The Elites:2
by GraydonGirl
Summary: Sequel to 3 elites. Here I am at another fashion show judging these small time designers, outfit after outfit, and sometimes its hard to say no, because once upon a time, I was them. Once upon a time, I was also in love. But some things change. Baley
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

This is what it's like now, almost every week. Hell, almost every night. It's like its fashion show after fashion show. And here I am, sitting in the front row, with my assistant doing everything I ask. Which of course isn't a bad thing. But every fashion show I get seated front row, centre, and it's like everyone is seeking my approval. I basically determine the future of these small time designers, and sometimes it's hard to say no… because once upon a time, I was them.

Once upon a time, I was also in love. But some things change.

I give the smallest of frowns and I can already see people in the back discretely getting up and leaving. The line is okay, but I've seen it before. Just like all the other wannabe-trend-setters in New York. But you know, sometimes I don't mind it. This one hour of every day it gives me a chance to think about her. Okay, I hate this hour _because _it gives me a chance to think about her, and all the pain I went through to get where I am. It never goes away.

I slowly and quietly lean closer to my assistant and she leans in as well.

"I'm done" I whisper and she nods. Within seconds she's calling the limo driver to pull up. In the middle of the fashion show I get up and double kiss the important people to my left and right. I don't even know who they are. But they know me. Just before I leave I turn back to look at what ever outfit is on stage and I look it up and down and nod in approval, just so I'm not too mean. That outfit will be one of the hottest outfits next week, and it's all because of one head nod. That's the power I have.

I exit the building, putting my sunglasses on, even though it's basically dark now. Security holds the photographers back as I gracefully make my way to the limo conveniently in front of me. I get in and my assistant follows closely behind. The door is shut and the car is gone.

"Brooke, as a designer it is your job to at least stay until the show is over" Victoria says to me.

"it was going no where" I say staring blankly out the window, even though no one can tell with my sunglasses on.

"that doesn't matter, now everyone's going to think you don't take this seriously!" she yells. She continues to yell to, but I've learned to block her voice out over the years. One of my hidden talents. "Brooke, are you listening to me?!" she interrupts my thoughts.

"no" I reply simply. She lets out an annoyed sigh. If she was any normal mom, she would know that I haven't acted the same in 5 years. If she was a real mom she could see that I had my heart broken. But she's not a mom, she's my manager. Biologically, she's my mom, but nothing else. She wasn't there when I was growing up, so she doesn't know what I was like. That's the only reason she tolerates me now. That and I'm a famous fashion designer.

"Brooke" Millicent, my assistant, says to me. "Peyton called for you during the show" she informs me.

"phone" I say holding my palm out. She passes me my cell phone and I start dialling. Calling my friends it the only thing I look forward to during the day.

"hey B" she answers the phone.

"hey, P. Sawyer, you called?"

"yeah, I wanted to see how you were doing?"

"I'm fine" I lie. "just finishing with another fashion show.

"you bailed halfway through didn't you?" she knows me so well.

"yeah"

"you were thinking about her, weren't you?" she asks me, already knowing what the answer is.

"… yeah" I don't even bother lying.

"how long has it been Brooke, 5 years? When are you going to let her go?"

"I don't know… I don't even know if I can"

"it's like you've been extra depressed lately."

"can't help who you love…" I shrug, even though she can't see it. "speaking of love, how's the boyfriend doing?" she and Lucas are still going strong if you're wondering. At least they were able to stay together the last 5 years.

"he's good. He's home, working away on his writing and I'm about to go out and do some work too" she owns her own label. She's got her life together and I'm happy for her.

"have you heard from Rachel, lately?"

"um… last I heard she was in Toronto for a shoot" photo shoot, she's a model. Model for Clothes over Bros, actually.

"yeah, I should have probably known that actually…" I say not participating in the conversation too much. I think she can sense my un-happiness.

"Brooke" she sighs. "stop doing that"

"doing what?"

"feeling sad. All this depression is bumming me out"

"sorry" I say softly, but I still can't manage to get my happy level up.

"… do you really miss her that much?" she asks. And it seems like we haven't even _really_ talked about her in a long time. She knows it's still a sore subject for me and probably always will be.

"… all the time" I reply, no higher than a whisper.

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"Miss. James, they're ready for you on stage" the male sound board operator tells me. I give him the slightest nod and he exits the room shutting the door behind him.

It's been 5 years since I've seen her, if you're wondering. 5 long years. And for every concert I've had, the only thing flashing through my mind before I hit that stage is her. There's no reason for me to think of her, but it's like she's etched into my mind. Every little thing about her is burned into my head; the way she smells, her scratchy voice in the morning, the way she crinkles her nose when she's confused or sees something corny. Everything.

And it doesn't matter how hard I try. She will always be there. I finally take my deep breath and grab my guitar and head to the stage. I hear the loud screams and shouting of the thousands of fans awaiting my songs, my voice, my music. They're all here for me.

Too bad the only person I want to be here, isn't.

I have my guitar in one hand as I pace over to the stairs that lead up. On my way I high five my manager and without a breath of hesitation I jog up the stairs and in front of all my fans.

I will never forget this feeling as long I will live. The feeling of being wanted by everyone in the room. If she was in the room I'd probably be able to feel it. Listen to me. _Her_. I can't even say her name. How pathetic is that?

"What's up Los Angeles?" I yell into the microphone placed strategically at the front of the stage. I receive a loud yell back that's nearly deafening. 10 000 people stand in this stadium, all here for one reason. Me.

So why doesn't it feel like it's enough?

Five years ago is when it all began… or should I say when it all ended. It was five years ago that she and I broke up. We were so in love. More love than most people see in a life time. But she had her fashion, and I had my music. Our lives were just starting, everything had been planned down to the tee. Everything but my relationship with my girlfriend. She was doing the fashion thing in New York, and I was doing the music thing… well everywhere. I was going on tour, that's why.

Things eventually got better, for the both of us. She started her own line, and I was able to get signed to a record company for a few years. I was happy. On the outside. She seemed happy too. But then again, I don't know what her life was really like.

I tried seeing her a few years ago, but one thing led to another and I just didn't end up going. Sometimes I regret that moment. I always wonder what my life would have been like is she and I had stayed together. What if we didn't have that fight at the end of graduation?

_Flashback_

"_are you ready to conquer the world, Haley James?" Brooke asks me as we take a stroll down the street._

"_Brooke, I think we need to talk about something…"_

"_what?"_

"_I'm not going to college next year" I say and she immediately stops._

"_what do you mean? I thought you wanted to go to Stanford and I was going to live near you and work on my line" she says._

"_look, you can still work on your line, but I'm not going to Stanford"_

"_then what are you doing?" she asked, confused as hell._

"_I-I… This guy offered me a spot on this tour. I'd be one of the opening acts for Gavin Degraw"_

"…_but what about us?" she whispers in pain._

"_I'm sorry Brooke, but I need to go after my dream and you need to go after yours. You can't be the fashion designer you want to be if I'm holding you back"_

"_but you're not holding me back. Me and you. We'll be together. That's part of my dream too"_

"_I know but… your other dream is more important"_

"_I think I'll be the judge of that" she sneers through small tears._

"_fine, then I think I need to put my music career before my other dreams…"_

"… _and before me" she concludes. I don't respond, anything else will just make the situation a whole lot worse than it actually is. "… can't we just work a long distance relationship? I mean I'm willing to make it work if you are" she pleads._

"_I'm sorry Brooke, but you said you wouldn't do anything to stand in the way of my dreams, and I won't stand in the way of yours. Because I know, that one day you're going to be an amazing designer, that's your dream"_

"_you're right, it is my dream. And I won't stand in the way of yours. I just thought that your dream would have included me too…" she says only letting a single tear drop from her eye. She's too strong to let anymore be taken over by gravity._

_End of Flashback_

To this day, it still breaks my heart thinking about what happened. But she's moved on with her life… and so have I. Well, that's what I claim, at least. "alright L.A., let's get this show on the road!" I yell into the microphone and get on with the show.

This is my dream. Just not all of it.

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"alright, thank you guys for coming out to see me, it was a great night!" I say fakely as I take a bow and exit the way I came onto the stage. The crowd is still cheering as I head off of the stage. As soon as I'm down I hand my guitar to my manager, as he exchanges it with my cell phone, and I walk right by him without a word.

"great job, Haley" a stage hand says to me as I pass by her. "I think you have a suit waiting in your room for you" she says. And by suit I do not mean a pant suit or anything. Suit usually means a business man trying to make a deal with me.

"thanks" I say unemotionally, not even slowing down for a smile. The people I work with probably think I'm a bitch. Everyone else thinks I'm the amazingly great rock star Haley James. Neither are right.

Just as I'm about to enter my pre-established room my phone starts vibrating in my hand. I look down at the screen and see the familiar name of my best friend.

"hey Luke" I say with a slight smile.

"hey rock star" he greets me.

"how's the next great American novel coming?"

"just about as good as your next platinum record"

"that good, huh?" we both know we're stuck in a rut.

"oh yeah. So are you done your show?" he asks. I don't even know why he asks, because he calls after every show at the exact same time. We've planned it down to the minute basically.

"you know I am. How are you doing? It seems like I haven't seen you in months"

"that's because you haven't. But I'm doing good… so is Peyton" he adds in. I don't usually ask about her. And for a good reason too.

"good to hear" I ignore the Peyton statement.

"so are you going to come visit any time soon? I miss you, and so does Nathan, and my mom does too" he adds. Over the years we've become great friends, Karen too. Even though I barely see them.

"yeah, I was thinking I'd stop by in a couple weeks, or so. Maybe after my tour finishes"

"how many shows do you have left?"

"4, I think" I reply.

"alright, I can't wait to see you. It's been kind of boring around Tree Hill without you"

"without me? Or without Peyton?" I ask. I only ask because I know Peyton doesn't even live with Lucas in Tree Hill all the time. Her business is set up else where.

"you, _of course_" he's probably only saying that because he's on the phone to me.

"mhm, I bet you say the same thing to Peyton, only about her"

"you have no proof" he jokes.

"yeah, what ever. Listen I've got to go, I still have some work left to do. You know, not all of us can sit in our comfy home playing on the computer and all" I say like his job is meaningless.

"that's true. But not everyone can write a book like the Great Lucas Scott"

"alright, shut it Gatsby. I'll talk to you later"

"alright, see ya later rock star" he says and hangs up at the same time as I do. At least I still have my friends. I slip my phone in my pocket and finally enter my dressing room. As soon as I close the door I turn around to see someone in my room, but this is no 'suit', nope, definitely not.

"Haley James" are the first words I hear, and I see the tall blonde standing before me.

"… Peyton Sawyer" I say almost as if I'm in a daze.

"how are you doing Hales?" she says taking a subtle step closer to me, but nothing more. We were never the hugging type friends. Actually, we were never really friends.

"what are you doing here, Peyton?" I ask, finally snapping out of my daze. I put my phone down on the table and head towards my stuff as if nothing's different.

"I came to see you, I… I uh, wanted to talk to you about something" I freeze. Please don't do this to me now. I don't think I could handle this.

"Peyton, you can't just-"

"-not that" she cuts me off. If not that, then what?

"my research tells me your contract with Titan Records is up at the end of your tour"

"…you want to sign me?" figures the only reason she would come down here is for business.

"It's an option for you, I just wanted it to be out there before you considered signing for another 10 years with Titan."

"what makes you think I'd want to sign with you?" I ask, taking a sip of my water, trying to act like none of this is a changing point in my career.

"well, you'd be working with _me_ of course" she says so full of herself, but in a joking way.

"and why exactly would that make me _want_ to sign with you?" I ask with attitude. Truth is, I know she's good in the music industry, but she's not exactly on my good list right now.

"look, Haley, you know just as well as I do to keep person matters separate from business. And I know, that you know what kind of producer I am. You'd be better off at my label"

"right… your label. How many artists do you have again?" everyone knows Peyton just started out and has like no one.

"enough to know I'm good. And with you I know we could make some great music together. Everyone already knows that you're a great musician"

"if I'm such a great musician, why would I need you?"

"because we could take over the music industry, and you know it"

"look, Peyton" I start, as I pick up my shoulder bag with some stuff in it. "working under your label might be good for me… but considering everything I don't think I could make it work" she and I both know why it wouldn't work. I head for the door, expecting Peyton to say one last thing, because we all know how people from Tree Hill are all about having one good last line. Maybe it'll even be good enough to convince me to stay.

"… she misses you" is all Peyton says, and I think my hearts starting to break all over again. As good of a line as it was, it's not good enough to make me stay. In fact, it's more of a motivation to leave. To get as far as way as possible. Because 5 years ago, 2 hearts were broken, not one.

**Okay, so I know I left the other story off on a high note, but I decided to make the sequel interesting and have them broken up to begin with. Basically the plot is they broke up in high school and haven't talked in 5 years… so enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As soon as I got out of the room I took off down the hall, getting as far as way as possible. "Jerry, lets move!" I say grabbing him by the jacket and pulling him towards the door with me. In case you missed that, Jerry's my manager. Not a very good one at that.

He quickly picks up my guitar case, with guitar in it, and we head out the back door, where we're spotted by several photographers and screaming fans. After a long night, the last thing I need is this. I put my sunglasses over my eyes and Jerry pushes our way through the crowds until we reach the limo.

As soon as we're in the clear and heading back to my place Jerry finally speaks up.

"so who was the blonde in your room?" he asks suggestively. It was probably a mistake telling him about my sexuality.

"she wasn't that kind of girl" I reply.

"then what was she doing?"

"business stuff"

"hmm, you know who you should talk to about business? Your _manager_"

"it was Peyton Sawyer, trying to sign me to her label" I say plainly.

"you going to do it?" he asks like it's no big deal. I don't think he realizes that if I sign with her he's out of a job. So, that only leads me to one conclusion.

"you're trying to sign someone else, aren't you?"

"I've got something lined up on the side. But if you turn her down I have no problem managing two artists. Plus, you know you'll always be my number one" he says with a nudge. Jack ass. Okay, well, actually, Jerry's a pretty good guy.

"is she the next 'big thing'?" I ask jokingly.

"nah, she's better than that… she's the next Haley James" I don't know whether to feel complimented of insulted.

"so, what? Should I expect to be replaced in the charts in one year, cause if so, I might want a heads up"

"hey, no one could ever replace you"

"yeah, whatever. But her name better not be something like Bailey Hames" I say jokingly.

We pull up to my place. And the limo drops me off as close to the door as possible. I get out of the car and Jerry hands met he guitar.

"no more sad songs, you're already emo enough" he says as a joke and lets the door close. It's not my fault if my songs are sad. I head over to the building and take the elevator up to my floor. That's right, being a musician pays off, like getting your own floor to a condo.

I enter the flat and place my guitar by the door like usual. I drop my keys off on the side table and turn my lights on. I look at my place and it's plain white walls. I don't really have time to paint them, I'm usually too busy with work.

On my way to my very plain bedroom I start stripping my clothes and just dropping them on the floor along the way. I'll pick them up later. I make my way into the white room, with the white sheets and plain furniture. God, it feels like I'm in an insane asylum. I really need to hire an interior decorator. I put on some comfortable clothes and crawl into bed by myself. This is what it's like every night, I'm alone.

Well not every night, if you know what I mean. Being a musician gets you your fair share of one night stands. But not tonight. Tonight, it's just me and my bed. I've been alone most of my life, it's not really a big deal. But there was a time when I wasn't alone. And I hate to do this to myself because I know it only makes everything hurt worse. But I remember a time when I was happy. When _she_ was around.

She would always sneak into my room through the window, for some reason she would never go through the door unless I was there to answer it. But what ever, it saved time. I remember how she would crawl into bed, _after_ taking off her clothes of course. And she would just lay with me. Most of the time we weren't even having sex or anything. It's amazing that people think just because we were in love and we were in the same bed they thought we would have sex. But it wasn't about that. It was about comfort.

We would fall asleep together and wake up together. It was the best parts of my day.

Now all I do is play concerts. Which I don't mind of course, because music is the love of my life… but you should know, music will always be the second love of my life. It's been 5 years and I'm still not over her. I only admit it to myself, and no one else… but Lucas probably knows, he's smart like that.

It's not that I haven't tried dating other people, it's just that the relationships seemed so forced. Well, that's mostly because my manager told me I needed publicity, but still, it seemed forced. I would try to make it work, I really would, but my thoughts would always come back to her. Just like now.

For the first half hour I lay in bed I think about her, and argue in my mind that I'm not still in love with her. But after that first 30 minutes, I always end up giving up. So that's what I'm doing now. I know I'm in love with her, and I have to say it.

"I'm still in love with Brooke Davis" I whisper to the silent room. Knowing that I can admit that out loud is the only way I can fall asleep. So there it is. It's been said and I already feel more tired.

The only thing is, when I say that line… I always end up falling asleep and dreaming about _her_.

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It's my day off. I usually get one of these a week, maybe less if I'm unlucky. But today's one of the rare days off where I don't have to travel.

I wake up and see it's 7:00am, I get out of bed, throwing the white sheets off of my body and heading straight to the kitchen for some food. Maybe even some comfort food.

I walk out into the hall, eyes barely open, the white walls seem blinding sometimes. I go straight for the kitchen ignoring everything in my path. Just as I open the fridge and the little light goes on I hear something behind me.

"how can you live in this place? It seems so… bland" Peyton says. Didn't I just get rid of her last night?

"how the hell did you get into my apartment?"

"picked the lock, I think you need to upgrade your security" I look over at my front door to see it's half open. I walk over and close the door. I walk back over to my living room area and see Peyton sitting on one of the couches. "seriously, you need to add some colour to the walls"

"I'm not around here long enough to decorate" I explain quickly.

"right, I forgot you have a place in New York, too. Right?" she asks, but I don't answer. Instead I ignore the small talk and get straight to the point.

"so what are you doing here, Peyton?" déjà vu moment.

"same reason as last night" she says carelessly, as she flips through a random magazine I have on the table.

"which part? The part where you want to sign me, or the part where you said… _she _misses me" I say, I'm still not able to say her name out loud.

"I want to sign you" she states, it's obvious she doesn't want to talk about it either.

"so I've heard, but you can't just come barging into my home to harass me. You know, I could call the cops"

"but you're not going to" she says, and she's right. I suppose.

"look, I told you before I'm not going to sign with you"

"why? Is it because of Brooke?" she said her name, not me.

"get out"

"why? Because right now, everyone knows your songs are turning too emo, even for me. And I know why, and so do our friends and does Brooke." There she goes saying that name again. She acts like it doesn't even hurt me, but inside she knows it does.

"you know nothing about my songs" I say in a dangerously low tone.

"Haley, I'm one of the few people who _do_ know what your songs are about" she states as she tosses the magazine back down to the table and stands up in front of me. "I'm going down to New York to look at another band. Come with me"

She wants me to go to New York… with her? "does she know that you're trying to sign me?" I ask as the first mention towards the brunette.

"no, but it doesn't matter, this is business"

"you and I both know business never stays business"

"that's a risk I'm willing to take" she says and I don't reply. I don't even know how to. Nothing good can come of this. "look, you don't have to but in case you choose to…" she says as she grabs a plane ticket out of her purse and drops it down onto the table. "the flight's at 2:00pm" she says and heads for the exit.

"… does she really miss me?" I ask, not turning to see her reaction, but I can tell by the sounds of her foot steps she's stopped walking.

"she doesn't stop…"

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The airports say you should show up for your flight two hours before it leaves to check baggage and go through security, and what not. It is 11:45am and if I were to go on this trip I would make it. So here I am sitting in my living room, bag packed, ticket sitting in front of me, all ready to go.

But why aren't I leaving?

Oh right, it's because _she _lives in New York. I could lie to myself and go to New York to say I'm working with Peyton, or I could be honest and say I want to 'accidentally bump into her'. But the question is should I? With everything that happened in the passed, would it be right to bring it all up again?

Well I guess we're going to find out. Because the truth is I want to do this, for several reasons, one of them being Brooke.

I get up, grab my suitcase on wheels and stuff the plane ticket into my purse. I walk towards the door not looking back once. Because this is what my life used to be like, just a plain white apartment, worth nothing to me. That's over now. No more asking what if, and no more regrets.

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I walk through the terminal and towards my gate to wait for my flight. My bag has already been checked and the only thing I have now is my purse, with my junk in it. I spot the familiar curly haired blonde sitting on one of the benches, by herself, minding her own business. I walk towards her and take the empty seat to her left, not really catching her attention yet.

"I knew you'd come" or maybe I have caught her attention.

"what ever" I reply. Smart answer Haley, really. "why are we going to New York, I thought your label was in L.A."

"like I said before, there's another band I have to check out, plus I've got a friend who owes me some free studio time in New York."

"so this has nothing to do with _her_?"

"no" she replies quickly and simply, meaning she doesn't want to talk about it or explain it. This is going to be a long flight.

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After riding the plane for a few hours, signing a couple of autographs for the other people on the flight and trying my best not to make everything between me and Peyton awkward, we finally land. As soon as we grab our luggage I see Peyton pull a black sweater out of her bag. She tosses it to me and grabs a pair of her own sunglasses.

"put this on, and put your shades down" she says.

"what are we, robbing a bank?" I ask hypothetically as I do what she tells me. I put the hoodie on, followed by my sunglasses. "what is this for?"

"I got a text from my driver saying there are some people waiting for us" she says adjusting her own sunglasses. She picks up her bag and we start moving again, but now I no longer look like Haley James. I look like the girl who's trying to smuggle cocaine across states. We roll our bags down the long hall way and just as we're leaving we see about 10 people holding cameras probably waiting for Haley James and her new manager to come out. We easily walk by them, going unnoticed and head for a small black car, presumably Peyton's drivers. We see a man in a casual suit and Peyton gives him a wave. He smiles politely and takes our luggage and puts it into the trunk for us. Mean while, we climb into the car, hidden behind tinted windows.

"how did they know?" I ask.

"someone must have tipped them off" she says like it's nothing, and pulls out her cell phone to do more work. Ah, just like high school.

"so, where are we going?"

"you're going home, to rest" I frown immediately at this remark. "I've got some stuff to do, and I'll pick you up later tonight, say 8:00pm" she guesses.

"I thought the point of this trip was so we could do business _together_ and now you're trying to dump me off at home?"

"fine, go out, what ever. Just be ready at 8:00pm" she says without even glancing up from her phone.

"fine, that'll give me a chance to see some friends" I say. We finally make it to my apartment and I get out of the car and the driver hands me my luggage.

"bye" I wave to Peyton.

"later" she grunts and the driver shuts the door. I think she got ruder over the years. I make my way up to my floor of the building and enter my apartment. See I think I like this one better, at least the walls are painted and the furniture is nice. That's mostly because I'm here in New York probably more than L.A.

Yeah, this apartment is definitely better than my other one… Well, I'm out of here. I think to myself as I drop off my bag in the living room and turn back around, but first I take off this ridiculous sweater.

I keep the sunglasses and head out the door. What to do… what to do…

As I'm exiting the building I start walking down the street and I spot a billboard with none other than her on there. It's advertising her clothing line, but still, it's a picture of her outside of my apartment. That's going to be hard to avoid. I peel my eyes away from her beautiful face and go where any other girl who has a broken heart would go.

To the bar.

One of the main reasons I picked my apartment because there was a bar just down the street. I'm friends with the owner so I get in any time I want. Plus, it helps that I'm a famous musician. I walk down the street a little and I see it's not too busy, but then again, it's only like 5:00pm. At night on the weekends there's a bouncer standing at the door. It's been a while since I've seen Mac. I open the door and walk in to the dim lit establishment. I take off my sunglasses and look around for a familiar face. And there she is working behind the bar.

"I'm still amazed that this dump is still open" I say, putting my sunglasses on my head. Without even looking up I see her smile.

"I'm still amazed that my little sister could become such a huge rock star" she says finally looking up and walking around the bar to get out. "come here, you" she says pulling me into a hug.

"how are you doing, Taylor?" I ask, embracing her as well.

"good. Ever since my customers found out that Haley James stops by here regularly, business has been great" using her own sister to make money. Tsk, tsk.

"I bet it has" I say pulling back.

"you didn't tell me you were in New York" she says as we both sit down and let another bartender take over.

"spur of the moment"

"are you here on business or did you just want to come by and see your favourite big sister?"

"business" I state, not even trying to hide it. "but I just had to come see this place. I haven't been here in a while" usually when I'm in town it's for a concert and then I'm out of here the next day. It's been a long time since I've actually been able to come here and see my sister.

"what kind of business? I thought you had your tour going on"

"I do, but I'm thinking about signing with a new label and I was asked to come to New York"

"new label? What's wrong with your Titanic label?" she never could get it right.

"Titan" I correct her.

"what ever"

"nothing's wrong, it's just my contract was up and I was offered a better deal"

"from who?" I knew this was coming.

"Peyton Sawyer" I say calmly, and I watch her react and knock over her drink she was playing with. She looks at me then quickly grabs a rag to wipe her mess up.

"Peyton Sawyer… as in-"

"-yes" I cut her off. No need to hear her name again.

"that's screwed up" she comments. She knows I'm still not over her. I guess it's pretty obvious to some people. "Haley, do you remember how two years ago, when I first opened up the bar…"

"sure" I remember how I couldn't make it because I had a small show to do. I kind of felt bad. But I still managed to stop by afterwards.

"well I didn't really want to tell you this before, but considering everything right now I think I should tell you" oh god, she always hides secrets from me.

"what?"

"_she_ came by that night. With Rachel and Peyton. She took one look at me, and I knew why she had come. I told her you weren't coming that night. All she did was give me a small nod and left."

"she tried to see me?" Taylor just nods. "but you knew I was stopping by later that night"

"yeah, but I didn't think it was a good idea for you to see her"

"Taylor!" I yell, now angry. "why didn't you tell me this before?!"

"because your career was going places, she could have changed that" maybe I wanted her to change that, if I could see her again.

"you still should have told me" I argue.

"what would you have done if I had told you?"

"… I don't know… something." I reply stupidly. "that's beside the point. I can't believe you waited 2 years to tell me this"

"okay, well you know now. What are you going to do about it?"

"… you know this changes everything right?"

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As soon as I left the bar I didn't bother turning back to go home. Instead I decided to go for a walk to clear my thoughts about… everything.

Taylor said Brooke came to see me 2 years ago. But why didn't she try again? And why didn't Peyton tell me? _That_ I'm more mad about. After what Peyton said to me 5 years ago I figured she would have told me, but no.

It's almost 8 o'clock now and I'm guessing Peyton's going to be waiting for me outside my apartment in just a few minutes. Too bad I'm not there. I wonder what would have happened if I had seen Brooke that night. Would we be together? Would she still be a fashion designer? Would I still be the musician that I am today? The night brings up so many questions and I want answers.

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I've known her address for years. I've known it since she's bought the apartment, but I've never actually been inside of it. I can't tell you how many times I've passed this apartment and wondered what would happen if I just got out of the car and walked right in there.

Truth is I've never had the courage to go in there. What if she still hates me? What if she still loves me? All of these questions I've built up over the years are going to get answered. Tonight.

I open the glass door and I see a man who looks like he's dressed as a bell hop watch me as I go to the elevator. I press the button and lucky for me the elevator is already on the main floor. I step inside. Press 3 and watch as the doors slowly close. The man behind the desk still watching me. The doors finally close and I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

The seconds pass by and I get closer and closer to her. I also get more and more nervous. Is this really a good idea? The door finally opens on the third floor and I step out only to see Peyton standing outside of a door. I quickly hide behind the corner, not wanting to be caught by her.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Peyton asks.

"yeah, thanks for coming by" I hear back. She still has that scratchy voice thing going on, and if it's possible it's even sexier now than it was 5 years ago. I wish I could see what she looks like from here, but I can't. "but I really wish you didn't have to go"

"I know, but I have some business to take care of. Bye Brooke" too bad her business isn't going to be there when she picks her up.

"Bye P. Sawyer" I hear foot steps coming down the hall and a door shut. I quickly run to the next corner to avoid being caught by Peyton. I wait until she's on the elevator and the doors are closed until I start moving again. I walk down the hall to where Peyton was and I look up at the door. 3f. This is where she lives.

I stand outside the white door and realize this is it. This is the making or breaking point. Everything built up in the last 5 years is going to be shattered to pieces tonight. And I can't wait. Because for the last 5 years I have been miserable.

I raise my hand to knock the door, but pause for a second, just to make sure this is what I want. And it is. I knock three times and wait. There's no turning back now. I hear her heels click on the floor as she approaches the door.

"I knew you would forget something, Peyton" she says through the door. I hear a lock click open and the door slowly swings back to reveal the girl I've missed for the longest time. I stare at her and she stares at me in complete shock.

She's just as beautiful as I remember, even when she's surprised. We stand here, staring at each other for a good 30 seconds before either of us even take a breath.

"…hi" I whisper and I didn't even know my voice could go that quiet.

**Ooh, so they finally meet. Next chapter I'll start from Brooke's POV. So tell me what you think about the story so far.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Okay, some one asked me a few days ago "****how old are day?" in a review. Now I'm not sure what this question exactly means, but if you're asking how old the characters are they're probably like 22-ish. If that's not the question you were asking PM me or something and ask again. Enjoy the story.**

I decided to leave work early today. Victoria's just been on my nerves lately, but what ever, I don't even have that much work to do. Ever since my spring line came out I've been working on my fall line and basically use that as my excuse all the time. Truth is, I'm a little stuck.

"Millicent, I'm heading home, if anyone calls for business, take a message, if it's personal, forward it to my home phone."

"but what about Vi-"

"-let me worry about her" I cut her off as I grab my purse and walk out the door. "oh and call my driver to pick me up down stairs" I yell just as the elevator doors are closing. And just as I get down stairs I see the black car pull up in front of the doors. It's great when you have power, isn't it.

The driver holds my door open for me as I enter the car. He shuts it and walks around to the front where he starts driving.

"going to the apartment, Miss. Davis?" he asks.

"no, I think I need some quality time alone. Take me home" I say. See if you're confused right about now, it's okay. I have two places in New York. One is the apartment Victoria and I share, it's usually where I go to do work, and basically live. But home, home is my other apartment, where only my friends know is. I won't even tell Victoria where it is, that would just spoil it. Lately, I've been spending all of my time there, without Victoria. But if she really wanted to find out she'd probably just have someone follow me.

Anyways, the driver pulls right up to the building, only a few feet away from the doors. That's what I love, is that usually when I get out of the car and there's a bunch of photographers around it takes me like 10 minutes to get to the door. This way it only takes me a few seconds, plus none of the photographers know where I live.

I make it up to my apartment and I'm about to pull out my keys when I see my door is already open. Just a crack though. Okay, this is starting to scare me. I get my pepper spray from my bag, and yes I have pepper spray. I'm a gorgeous, rich, 23-year-old living in New York, why wouldn't I have pepper spray? I enter the apartment and look around to see some lights on, but it doesn't look like I've been robbed. Actually it doesn't even look like anyone's here.

"hello?" I call out, but there's no answer. All of a sudden I hear something from the kitchen. I walk silently over to my kitchen and I see the fridge door being held open by someone but I can't see them. Maybe it's a hungry burglar. I hold up my pepper spray ready to spray at any moment and I see the door start closing and the mysterious figure stand up.

We both scream at the same time, but the screams quickly die down when we realize who it is.

"Peyton! What the hell are you doing here?! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I yell, lowering my pepper spray and clutching my chest with my free hand.

"_you _almost had a heart attack? I stand up to see someone ready to pepper spray me in the face" she says taking the pepper spray from my hand and putting it down on the table for safe keeping. "by the way, you're out of beer"

"I don't keep beer here, this is my home studio"

"hence the reason you should have beer" she says jokingly. I shake my head at her and walk over so I can give her a hug.

"what are you doing here, Peyton? I thought you were in L.A."

"I was, but business brought me here, and you know I can't come to New York without seeing my best friend"

"well, next time call me, don't break into my home"

"I lost my key" she shrugs. I walk over to the key hook and toss her another copy. What is this? The fourth one? "so how's New York's hottest fashion designer?"

"stuck in a rut" I reply as I sink down into my couch in the living room. She walks over and sinks down beside me.

"don't worry, all you need is a little inspiration."

"easier said than done. You know I made most of these designs over-"

"-five years ago. I know." And we all know what was five years ago. But we can't really do anything about that, now can we. All of a sudden it gets quiet and seems a little awkward.

"do you want to have our annual talk?" Peyton asks me.

"… yeah" okay so let me fill you in. Our 'annual talk' is something that I usually do with Peyton or Rachel, or both, I guess this year it's Peyton. Once a year or about once a year we take a few hours out of the day to talk about _her_. I know it's pathetic that I'm still this hung up over my ex, but I can't help it. "I was watching the news today and heard she was spotted leaving L.A. at the airport, but didn't tell anyone where she was going"

"yeah, I heard that too"

"do you think she went back to Tree Hill?"

"maybe, I don't know" for wanting to have this talk with me, it seems I'm the only one actually doing the talking. "look, Brooke, for the passed 5 years I've been telling you to go see her because I don't think she's going to come see you. Why haven't you gone after her?"

"it's not that easy. She made it clear to me when we broke up that she wanted to put her career first"

"and? Your careers are set, and you're still in love with her!"

"but my heart is still broken"

"then fix it. Brooke, you know you want to, and maybe, just maybe, if you see her and talk to her you can work things out"

"yeah, we could work it out, or it go horribly and she might never want to see me again"

"but at least then you'll know where everything stands. If you talk to her everything could fall back into place, or things will end. But if things end, maybe you'll finally be able to get over her. You've been putting yourself through torture for the last 5 years, and I hate to see you like this"

"well, _I_ hate being like this" I say back.

"all the more reason to see her… that is, if you're ready"

"I need a second opinion on this" I say as I pull out my cell phone and dial a number. I turn it on to speaker phone and Peyton already knows who I'm calling.

"Rachel Gattina, supermodel" Rachel answers proudly.

"yeah, slutty super model" I comment, jokingly.

"shut up you whore of a fashion designer" she says jokingly.

"hey Rach" Peyton says making her self noticed.

"oh hey blondie, I didn't know you were there"

"yeah, just with Brooke in New York, here" Peyton says.

"okay, so what's up?" Rachel asks.

"we're doing the annual talk and thought you should be included" I say.

"alright, lay it on me"

"okay, so Peyton says I should go see her and get it over with" I say.

"that way she can either fix things or settle things and get over her" Peyton adds to the argument.

"mhm…" Rachel urges us to continue.

"so what do you think?" I ask, seeing as we don't have any more reasons for either side of the argument.

"just one thing… say her name Brooke" Rachel dares me. And I feel my breath hitch in my throat.

"what?" I ask trying to pretend I didn't hear her. And now Peyton is staring at me, seeing where Rachel is going with this.

"say her name" Rachel says flat out.

"I don't see what that's going to pro-"

"-just say her name Brooke" Rachel cuts me off. I open my mouth to try to say her name, but it's just not coming.

"…I can't" I say softly.

"if you can't say her name, what makes you think you're ready to see her?" Rachel says. And I guess she's right. "so is that it? Cause I have a guy waiting in my room for me" Rachel says, and she probably does have a guy waiting for her.

"alright, go have your sex" Peyton says.

"thank you, bye P, bye B" she says quickly and with a click she hangs up.

"well I think that's settled" Peyton says putting my phone down on the table for me. I don't say anything, I just sit back on the couch, thinking about what I've gotten myself into. "Brooke, just know that me and Rach are going to be here for you, what ever you decide.

"I know…"

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I talked with Peyton the rest of the night. We got my assistant to go out and get us some beer, seeing as we didn't want to go out and get caught by photographers or anything. So here we are, kicking back a few, but still not drunk. All that drinking in high school really payed off, now we can hold our liquor.

"oh come on Peyton, just stay the night. It's not even 8:00pm yet" I say grabbing onto her arm, and pulling her down to the couch when she stands up.

"Brooke, I can't I have some work to take care of" she says with a goofy grin on her face. Okay, maybe we're a little drunk.

"you're going to work, drunk?" I ask.

"I'm not drunk, you're drunk" she accuses me, but we both know we're a little tipsy. She successfully gets up from the couch only to drop her keys on the floor.

"smooth" I comment. She pushes me a little and bends down to pick them up. "you know you're probably going to end up forgetting something here… might as well stay"

"I'm not going to forget anything"

"Peyton, I have like half your wardrobe in the guest room closet."

"… oh yeah" she smiles as she remembers how much stuff she has actually forgotten here. "but it's different this time" she says heading for the door.

"Peyton" I call her back, as I hold up her leather jacket.

"okay, so maybe it's not so different" she says coming back to grab it. We both get up and head for the door. She opens it and I plead for her to stay one last time.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Peyton asks.

"yeah, thanks for coming by" I say. "but I really wish you didn't have to go"

"I know, but I have some business to take care of. Bye Brooke" she says leaning in to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"bye P. Sawyer" I see her walk away and finally close the door. Some things just have to end. I walk back into the living room to start cleaning up when I hear knocking at my door. I can only smirk at how I'm always right when it comes to my friends.

"I knew you would forget something, Peyton" I yell as I walk back over to the door. I open it up, but I definitely don't see Peyton. It's _her_.

She still looks just as beautiful as she did 5 years ago. Different, but beautiful. We stare at each other for a few seconds, not knowing what to say or how to react.

"… hi" she finally says, but it's more like a whisper. What do I do? Well I guess first thing to do would be to say hi back.

"hi…" I answer back, but it comes out more like a whisper, just like hers.

"mind if I come in?" she asks me. I take a second to process the words. I look back into my apartment and it looks kind of messy and also looks like I spend my nights getting drunk. Oh well.

I don't say anything. Instead I open the door wider and let her walk by me. I close the door behind her slowly, trying to take my time to think of something to say. I turn around to see her slowly walking towards the living room, looking around the apartment.

"…y-you have a nice place" she comments.

"how did you know where I lived?" I ask. I mean, only my close friends know.

"I have my ways" she says mysteriously, but no smile. She still hasn't smiled since she walked through that door.

"I-I'm sorry, but what are you doing here… Haley?" I say shaking my head, trying to get my thoughts straight. I guess I caught her off guard as she stands in front of my frozen. Noticed how I said her name?

"how are you doing Brooke?" she asks, completely ignoring my question. I guess I'll play along too.

"I'm okay, I guess. My line is doing pretty good"

"so I saw" she comments.

"how about you? I heard you mysteriously left L.A." oh shit, I probably shouldn't have said that.

"you follow the tabloids I'm featured in?" she asks with a small smirk. Not a smile.

"I glance from time to time" I say seriously.

"… I'm just here on a little business, getting ready for my shows in a couple of weeks"

Alright let's try this again. "so if you're here on business, why are you here, at my apartment?" she breaks eye contact and suddenly finds the floor the most interesting part of the room.

"…I came back to see you" she says looking up. But this time she has the smallest of tears in her eyes, but the biggest of smiles. She quickly breaks the eye contact and looks around the room again. Her eyes fall to the bottles of beer left on the table from me and Peyton. "looks like being a designer is fun" she says completely changing the subject again.

"what about you? I bet you have your fair share of fun nights, being a rock star and all"

"yeah, I guess, but sometimes my life just seems so hollow" I know exactly what you mean. "it's like I know something's missing in my life, but I keep holding myself back from it" she alludes to our relationship once upon a time. She takes a seat on my couch where Peyton and I were sitting no more than 5 minutes ago. I walk over, but instead of sitting beside her I sit across from her on another couch.

"how long are you here for?" I ask changing the subject this time.

"just a couple of days, maybe longer. I have some other concerts to do" yeah I already knew that, actually.

"looks like we turned out pretty successful" I comment. "I guess we have you to thank for that" I say and we both know it hurt her, but that's not my problem.

"… do you ever think maybe all this success was just one big… _mistake_?"

"what do you mean?" I ask in fear. So far I don't really like where this is going.

"what if I say I made a mistake 5 years ago. Some things turned out great, some things turned out not-so great… but it was all just a mistake"

"no" I say. "you c-can't say that."

"…I just did"

"you're telling me after all of these years all of the nights I've felt alone it was all just because you made a mistake? I have spent the last 5 years of my life wondering why I wasn't good enough to be with you and you go and do this…"

"I'm sorry"

"so am I. Because I spent 5 years thinking it was my fault"

"I never meant for you to feel that way. I just wanted you to feel happy, with your line and all…"

"the only time I was happy was when I was with you. My fashion line has brought me more than I could have ever dreamed of, but I just wanted to be with you"

"you have no idea how many times I wished I heard that over the years…"

"why'd you do it?" break up with me, that is.

"I… uh, I saw your letter" she says,.

"what letter?"

"the letter from Deborah Grace, the fashion designer, saying you got the internship that you've always dreamed of" I got that letter a few days before graduation. I applied along with every other fashion designer in America. But I was the only one to get it. It was pretty big. I stayed with Deborah Grace for a year and it pretty much sparked my own fashion career. I was actually contemplating not going. Because of Haley.

"oh… that one"

"yeah, _that_ one. The one you didn't tell me about"

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to go…"

"why Brooke? Because you were dating me?"

"yeah!" I say like it's obvious.

"that's exactly why I did it! You wouldn't have been such a successful fashion designer if you didn't take that internship all those years ago, you wouldn't have taken the internship if you had a girlfriend, you wouldn't have gone… if I hadn't broken up with you." She explains her ridiculous logic.

"and maybe, _just maybe,_ if you hadn't broken up with me, we'd _both_ still be happy!" I yell at her.

"but if I hadn't we wouldn't have the lives we have today"

"I would have chosen you over fashion _any day_" I state.

"and I would have chosen _you_ over music any day… _that's_ why I made a mistake"

**So they finally met back, things aren't the best right now, but things might change in the next chapter who knows. Okay, I know. Sucks to be you. In the next few chaps you can expect more Baley and of course the Elites have to have their word in this, so it should stir some things up. okay… a lot of things up.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Hey guys, so this is more of a short chapter, but it's kind of important for a future chapter, plus it leads into the next chapter pretty good. Enjoy**

(Haley's POV)

We've been sitting here for 15 minutes. Not saying a word to each other, however I do believe we're having a staring contest. But we're both losing. This is just sad. I'm about to say something when my cell phone rings.

I look down at the screen and I see it's an unknown caller. What ever. Anything to get me out of the awkward silence with _her_.

"hello?" I answer.

"why am I standing in your apartment, with out you here?" Peyton asks me. Maybe I shouldn't have answered it.

"I made plans" I answer calmly. I'm still mad at her for not telling me Brooke wanted to see me. "oh and stop breaking into my apartments"

"well if you were actually here, I wouldn't have had to"

"what ever, can we just do this tomorrow? I'm busy right now"

"fine, but don't be surprised if you wake up with me in your apartment tomorrow" she says and hangs up. Great, now I have to go back to my staring contest. I look up from my phone and she's still watching me silently. What do I say now?

"2 years ago, you came to Taylor's bar to see me. Why?" I ask randomly.

"because after those 2 years I realized I didn't want to feel this way anymore"

"feel what way?"

"lonely" she replies simply. "but you weren't there, and I took it as a sign"

"what about me showing up 5 years later on your door step? Do you take that as a sign too?"

"sure, but I'm still trying to figure out what it means"

"well I can tell you." I say quickly. "I've missed you so much over the years because I still love you. _I'm still in love with you Brooke_. That's why I'm here. 5 years is just too long"

"why do you get to make that decision? After you broke up with me, I thought missing you for _30 seconds_ was too long. Why do_ you_ get to decide 5 years!?"

"I didn't. 30 seconds after we broke, I missed you too. After 5 years fate brought us back together."

"what do you mean fate? You're here on business. Fate is when 2 people meet on an airplane and fall in love. Fate isn't you showing up on my door step 5 years after you left me" she says through tears in her eyes. To this day it still hurts me to see her cry.

"… well sometimes you have to make your own fate." And that's what I did.

"it doesn't work like that"

"why not?" I ask.

"it just doesn't" she replies, not actually giving me a valid answer.

"well then forget fate. I came here tonight because I _wanted_ to"

"why all of a sudden?"

"because today, I found out you came to see me 2 years ago."

"so what?"

"that shows me that I know you still love me too" and it also tells me something about the Elites, but that'll come up sooner or later.

"how do you know I haven't changed my mind since then"

"because if you had, you would have kicked me out of your home half an hour ago" I say, and she doesn't reply with anything because she knows I'm right. She still loves me.

"Haley…" she starts, and it's a good sign that she finally said my name. "you hurt me so much in high school because you were the first person I've ever fell in love with. You were the only person. I've spent so many years missing you and I can't just give my love away to someone, especially when I don't know who they are."

"what do you mean? You know who I am. You're one of the few people who _do_ know I am"

"no, you've changed since you've become a musician, I've followed your career around" I knew it.

"I assure you, that's not who I am. I'm still that same girl you fell in love with. I promise"

She gets up to get her purse and comes back, not actually telling me what she's doing. "do you remember our last date before… everything fell apart?"

"sure, you wanted to take me out to some fancy restaurant for lunch, like always, and your car broke down and we were so far from anyone else. It was like a 2 hour drive, but you just had to take me."

"so we took the bus home"

"and it took like twice as long to get home as it did to get there" I add in.

"we spent 4 hours riding that bus, just me and you at the back of the bus just talking about stuff. That was the last time I saw _my_ Haley James" she says pulling out a picture of us from her wallet. It's me and her on the bus, laughing about something. "this is the Haley I know. The girl that was always herself and happy and _mine_. What happened to that girl?"

"she's still here, just hidden"

"yeah, she's been hidden for the passed 5 years. And I'm starting to think that she's not hidden. Just changed."

This time I take out my wallet and pull out a picture too. It's pretty tattered and torn and flimsy, but it's still in tact. "I never changed" I whisper, not showing her the picture quite yet. "I just hid, because hiding meant that I was hiding those feelings, and even when I knew I was hiding those feelings - I felt better. But inside I still know who I am, and inside I still know I'm in love with you. That much hasn't changed" I say as I drop the same picture of me and her on the table in front of her.

"… I've never stopped loving you, and I don't think I can" I say quietly as she picks up the photo and lets her thumbs play along the creases and the edges.

I look down at my watch and realize I've been here longer than I thought I would. Actually I didn't know how long I'd be here. But, I feel something tickle my cheek and I realize I'm crying. I quickly wipe away my tears with the palms of my hands, trying not to show Brooke I'm crying.

"it's getting late, I think I should go…" I say, standing up from my spot.

"wait" she says quietly, not looking up from our matching photos. "how long have you had this in your wallet?"

"5 years" I approximate. "I guess love doesn't go away"

"… I know what you mean" she whispers, still staring at the identical pictures. She slowly hands my picture back to me and I put it back in my wallet where it belongs. She gets up beside me and decides to walk me to the door.

"it was great to see you, Brooke" I comment.

"yeah…" she says. We both act like everything didn't happen, but we know things are going to be different now.

"… I-I'll see you later?" I stutter out.

"I don't know" she says and I can feel the smallest smile spread across my face, because 'I don't know' is better than a flat out 'no'. I nod as she opens the door and I step out and venture down the hall to the elevator. Not daring to turn around in fear of Brooke seeing this increasingly large smile.

I was too busy smiling that I didn't even notice that I had already walked down the hall. I didn't notice that I had pushed the button to call the elevator. I didn't notice the doors open, and I certainly didn't notice that I got into the elevator and pressed the ground floor button.

But what I _did_ notice was a hand stop those doors from closing. What I _did_ notice was Brooke Davis holding the doors open, and slightly out of breath.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Sorry it's been such a long time since I've posted. I just finished exams and I wanted to change this chapter a little. So here it is. Feel free to tell me your thoughts afterwards. Btw its Rated M… and for a good reason. **

I was too busy smiling that I didn't even notice that I had already walked down the hall. I didn't notice that I had pushed the button to call the elevator. I didn't notice the doors open, and I certainly didn't notice that I got into the elevator and pressed the ground floor button.

But what I _did_ notice was a hand stop those doors from closing. What I _did_ notice was Brooke Davis holding the doors open, and slightly out of breath.

Just as I'm about to ask her what she's doing she takes a step into the elevator and grabs me by the hand and pulls me closer to her. Without hesitation she presses her lips down to mine, and I cannot tell you how much I've missed this. I bring my hand up to her head to hold her closer and soon I feel Brooke pulling me out of the elevator and back to her apartment, not breaking our wonderful kiss once. She pushes her door open and slams it shut behind her as soon as we're in. I drop my purse somewhere on the floor and I use both hands to hold Brooke close by the waist. And her kisses seem so hungry for me, but I'm sure that's the way I am too. She pushes me up against the wall kissing my lips, then my cheek, and then down to my neck repeatedly. I close my eyes in fear of opening them and it being all a dream.

She pulls back for a split second so she can pull my shirt off and I feel her hands go up and down my bare side and cup my breasts that are still covered by my bra. She toys with the button on my jeans and gets it undone, but before she can pull them down I push her up against the wall behind her and take off her shirt.

"bedroom" she mutters against my skin. She goes back to kissing my lips and starts pulling me down the hall where I presume the bedroom is. I wouldn't exactly know. We barge through another door and I see a nicely decorated room with a king sized bed in the middle of it. All of a sudden I'm pushed down to the bed and Brooke takes her pants off, leaving her only in her bra and panties. She leans over me and helps me out of my jeans.

As soon as the denim hits the floor she crawls on top of me and goes straight back to kissing. It's hard to believe that just 20 minutes ago, she and I were yelling and crying about our love. And here we are, making love.

Her hands are running up and down my bare thigh as it's brought up to her side. I wrap my hands around her back and take off her bra. I sit up a little so that she can take mine off and soon the 2 garments hit the floor. We quickly crawl under the sheets at the head of the bed, and this time we're both on our sides, facing each other. I lean down to kiss her as I let my right hand roam down her sexy body. I run my hand over her breasts and then further south.

My hand reaches her panties and dip inside to start rubbing. I hear Brooke moan against my lips and I can tell she's wanted this for a long time. I put two fingers inside of her and start slowly pumping them in and out. As I increase speed the volume of her moans get louder and louder. I can feel her nails start digging into my back, but I don't care.

As she gets closer and closer to going over the edge I hear her calling out my name and I start moving my hand faster and faster. Within seconds I feel her muscles clench and her body go stiff. The entire time she's still kissing me. She quickly pushes me over and on to my back as her mouth leaves mine and moves to my neck and keeps going lower and lower. She licks my breasts and I let out a small moan and I can feel her trailing down my stomach until she reaches my panties. She hooks a thumb around each side and pulls them down. I see her toss them somewhere in her room, carelessly. She slowly lowers her head down to my centre and I can feel her mouth on me. Oh god, it feels so good. I forgot how good Brooke was at sex.

She's doing something with her tongue and it feels wonderful and I know within minutes I'll be spent.

"Brooke" I manage to moan out between my other indescribable moans. In addition to her mouth I feel her bring up a finger and put it inside me. If her tongue wasn't enough this will surely finish the job. I can feel my orgasm rising and I know I'm getting louder, and the beds almost shaking from our movement.

"yes!" with one word I'm pushed to the climax and it feels like nothing else in the world matters because I'm in pure enjoyment of the moment. As soon as Brooke knows I'm done she kisses her way back up to my face and we make out for a few more minutes, before finally relaxing.

Neither of us say anything we just lay there. I guess we're both too afraid of saying something that could ruin this moment. Instead, I watch as Brooke turns on her side only to face me and look directly into my eyes. Her hand drags up the side of my stomach, but not in a sexual way. More in a sensual way. I take her hand in mine and break our eye contact. I lay flat on my back and just hold her hand in mine as we both fall asleep. Just like this.

…………………

You know, sometimes pain becomes such a huge part of your life that you expect it to always be there, because you can't remember a time in your life when it wasn't. But then one day you feel something else. Something that feels wrong only because it's so unfamiliar, and in that moment you realize

you're happy. Well that's what I feel like now. Sometimes happiness isn't an emotion that you can describe. And when you can't describe it, you know it's the best kind of happiness.

It's love.

I wake up, still wrapped in her sheets, I can't tell you how many times I've awoken like this back in Tree Hill. I roll over expecting to see her beautiful face still sleeping, but no one's there. I immediately frown thinking back to the first time I fell asleep beside Brooke, she left me a note. But not this time. I sit up in bed and realize I'm still naked. I grab one of the sheets and wrap it around my body as I venture out of her room and into the rest of the apartment.

It's now I realize that this place is huge. I walk down one hall but it doesn't lead back to the living room, it leads to another bedroom and some other rooms. I go down to the end up the hall to see a door cracked open slightly. I peak my head in and see Brooke wearing flannel pants and a baggy sweater. She may be a fashion designer but everyone knows that comfortable clothes never go out of style. I open the door a little wider and she still hasn't noticed me. I see she's sitting at a desk probably working on some work. She looks so gorgeous. No make up, hair in a messy bun, natural light coming in from the windows. I don't think she's ever looked more beautiful than now. But I snap out of my day dreaming and back to reality. This is the moment where it determines whether or not last night was a mistake or the best night of our lives.

I knock on the door lightly and she quickly turns around… with a smile. I guess she woke up happy too.

"hey" she says as she quickly turns back to her work and puts it in a folder and then into her desk. She locks it closed and then turns back around. Obviously it's something important.

"hey" I say back as I saunter over to her still wrapped in the sheet. "nice outfit for a fashion designer" I say teasingly as I tug on her sweater. I stand in front of her, already feeling the awkwardness between us.

"well I think I like your outfit too" she says playing with the sheets and trying to get a peak inside of them. I quickly slap her hand away and she smiles back up at me.

"what are you working on?" I ask.

"nothing. I just couldn't sleep last night so I decided to do a little work" she says as she lets her hands lightly rest on my hips.

"… are we okay? I mean last night…"

"what about it?" she asks with a smirk. And that's not what I meant. But in that smirk I can tell things are different. Very different.

"never mind" it's too hard to explain. That and it would be awkward. All of a sudden we hear a distant ringing from another room. I look at Brooke but she's not moving to answer her phone. "aren't you going to get that?"

"well I would… but that's not my phone" she says with a smile. That's when I realize it's my cell phone ringing.

"oh shit" I quickly jump off of her and run down the hall. Am I even going the right way? "Brooke, which way do I go?" I yell out loud.

"turn left, then right, then go straight" she yells back. I follow her directions and it leads me to the living room where I dropped my purse last night. I quickly go through my bag and luckily my phones still ringing.

"hello?" I answer, not even looking at the screen.

"it is 7:00am, I am standing in your apartment and you are not here, _again_" Peyton says.

"oh shit, yeah, sorry. Look I'm on my way home right now"

"where are you? I'll just come pick you up" she says. I don't think I should tell her.

"no um, don't worry, it's complicated how to get here. I'll be home in 20 minutes" I say and quickly hang up the phone before she gets a chance to argue with me. I put my phone back in my purse and leave it on the table. I turn around and I see Brooke standing a few feet behind me. "this place is a maze" I say to her with a smile.

"you get used to it after a while" she shrugs.

"well until then, mind telling me how to get back to your bedroom, I think I should put my clothes back on"

She gives a small laugh and nods in the direction of one of the hall ways. She leads me back to her room and opens the door for me. "I'm going to go change in the other room" she says grabbing a dress from her closet and exiting the room. I nod silently in response and quickly search the room for my missing clothes. I find my bra, panties and jeans but realize my shirt wasn't discarded in this room. I'm about to go back into the maze when Brooke opens the door holding my shirt. She tosses it too me and I pull it over my head and I see her already dressed in her cute little dress. Girl's got style.

"thanks" I say softly. I follow Brooke back out to the living room where the rest of my stuff is. "listen, I've got some work to do today, but do you think you want to… meet up for coffee or something later?"

"We can't" she says and I feel my stomach drop. Maybe last night was just a one time thing. "I kind of have to be really careful with my publicity and all… but do you want to stop by my office later and we can hang out and talk?" and just like that I feel better.

"yeah sure, I'd like that. What time?"

"surprise me" she tells me as we both head for the door. We get to the elevator and make our way down to the main floor. "do you know where my office is?"

"I think it's impossible to miss the big building that says clothes over bros on it" I say with a smirk and she nods in response.

"alright, do you… need a ride… somewhere?" she asks nervously. Maybe things have changed over the last few years.

"no, it's okay, I'm going to take a cab home. I don't want us getting caught by photographers or anything right now."

"okay" just as the elevator doors open we know that creepy door man is out there but we don't move. Before we go anywhere I watch as neither of us move but I know neither of us really want to move. Without warning Brooke gives me the quickest peck on the lips good bye that I've ever seen.

"bye" she whispers and puts her sunglasses on and walks out the front doors and straight into her limo. I smile at how everything just works for her. I walk out of the elevator and put my sunglasses on and walk out the front doors, completely ignoring the door man. Today's going to be a good day.

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I managed to make it home in record time, only set back by a few people asking for my autograph. I guess these sunglasses don't hide who I am too well. I head up to my apartment and without even pulling out my keys I walk into my apartment to see Peyton waiting impatiently on the couch.

"finally!" she says getting up.

"well sorry" I reply sarcastically. "I practically ran here just for you"

"where were you?"

"I… stayed with my sister last night" I lie.

"well you could have called!"

"I don't have your number" I reply like it's obvious. This time she can't blame that on me.

"alright, give me your phone" she says. I pull it out of my bag and toss it to her.

"fine, I have to go to the bathroom anyways" I say heading for the bathroom door. But just before I can open it, it opens from the inside.

"hey Haley, nice place" she says.

"you know, I thought I got rid of you two 5 years ago, apparently not" I say teasingly to the red head in front of me.

"nice to see you too" Rachel replies sarcastically.

"you know what? I think I'm going to buy a dead bolt for my door" I say surpassing Rachel and going to the bathroom. As soon as I emerge I see Peyton and Rachel waiting for me to leave.

"can we go now?" Rachel asks impatiently.

"well I was kind of hoping to take a shower and change my clothes…" I say but the look on Rachel and Peyton's faces say otherwise. "… or not" I say and they nod. I grab a light jacket and Peyton hands me my purse with my phone in it. We go downstairs and into a cab we hail on the streets.

"so what's Rachel doing here?" I ask as I am crammed in between the two of them.

"you know I'm sitting right here" she points out. I look at her and ignore her making her scoff. I forgot how much fun it was to piss off these two.

"she's coming with us to the studio, I hope you're ready"

"wait, we're going now?" I ask and she nods. "well thanks for giving a girl a heads up" I say sarcastically.

"Some of the best stuff was made in just a day. Do you have your stuff with you?"

"of course. I don't leave home with out it." I say like it's obvious. What kind of musician would I be if I didn't bring my song book with me everywhere? "so Rachel, I hear you're a model"

"super model" she corrects me.

"ooh a sthuper model!" I say teasingly with a lisp. You know you can't take a person serious when they do a lisp. It's just too hilarious. "how's that treating you?"

"cold" she replies. "a lot of it's swim suit wear" she says making me laugh out loud. It's funny, a few days ago I probably wouldn't have laughed at this, but I just feel like I'm in a better mood. I don't know what it is… okay that's a lie. I know _exactly _what it is.

"who would have thought three girls from small town Tree Hill would all end up this famous"

"are you okay?" Peyton asks me.

"of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know… you just seem a little perky today"

"ooh, speaking of perky, can we stop for Starbucks?"

"we're already running kind of late, I don't thi-" Peyton starts.

"-I could go for some Starbucks too!" Rachel speaks up. Two to one, we win. Score.

"fine, I'll call someone to pick some up, but we need to get to the recording studios now"

"_we need to get to the recording studios now" _Rachel and I mock Peyton, making each other laugh.

"seriously, are you like on anti-depressants or uppers… or _something_?" Peyton asks me.

"…just high off of life" I reply with a smile. Or maybe I'm high off of something else.

**Okay so wanted to establish in this chapter that things are looking up for baley… **_**right now**_**. But there are still some awkward moments between them. I know it's moving fast, but don't worry, lots of drama will ensue!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter

We arrive at the studios and I see Peyton pull out her phone to get us some Starbucks. We give our orders as we enter the building. Rachel and I laughing at something stupid. It's weird, I was never this close with them when I was dating Brooke. I really wished I had taken the time to be their friends.

We walk up to the front desk and Peyton signs in and we head down to Studio B for some quality music time. We enter the studio and Peyton and Rachel go into the smaller room with the sound boards and I stay out in the large sound proof room.

"alright there's a guitar to your left, and I have some of the guys from the band coming in 30 minutes with your coffee." Peyton says over the speaker system.

"Alright, mind if I just work on something until they get here? I think I have an idea for a song in my head"

"alright, and maybe if it's good enough we might even record a rough copy of it today" she says teasingly. I stick my tongue out at her and she sticks her tongue back out at me.

"oh and one last question, how long are we here for? 'cause I have to see someone else today" and I look forward to that meeting.

"just a few hours, don't worry. I have somewhere else to be too. I can't waste _all_ of my precious time on you" I roll my eyes and just pull out my song book.

I don't know what it is, but since I've seen Brooke it's just like I feel happier, and with this emotion surprisingly comes a song. The words seem to be flowing out of me like a river, well most of them anyways. I pick up the guitar and strum a few chords, trying to get it right, and I think this could turn into a pretty good song. Of course I don't know if I want to play it for Peyton and Rachel just yet. Cause it's pretty it's obvious who it's about.

I've managed to get a lot of lyrics down, but it's not quite finished. But I don't think I'll be able to finish it today anyways. Songs take time. Just as I feel like taking a break from the song I hear the door behind me open up and a couple of guys walk in with coffee in hand. I clap incessantly and put my book and guitar down.

"my hero" I say as I jump over the couch to get my coffee. "thanks guys" I say taking a large sip of the delicious drink. Peyton and Rachel soon come out from the booth to get their coffee too.

"thanks guys. So uh, just get warmed up while I talk with Haley, kay?" they all nod and head to their individual instruments.

"now what's this about a talk?" I ask. Rachel and Peyton start pulling me into the other sound proof booth and away from the other guys. Peyton shuts the door as Rachel sits me down on the chair. Okay, they got all serious on me.

"okay, look, we just want to get a few things out of the way." Okay, here comes the Brooke talk.

"we're probably going to be doing a lot of work down here in New York" Peyton starts.

"and you-know-who lives down here" Rachel adds. I love how they call her you-know-who for my protection. The funny thing is that they don't realize last night, I was screaming out her name. Okay too much information.

"Peyton, I thought you said our business had nothing to do with her" I say in a serious tone. I've got to keep the charade up.

"it doesn't, but we just need to make it clear. What we told you after you broke up with her still applies today."

_Flashback_

_I've locked myself in my room ever since I broke up with her. I can't exactly face going out there. Not yet. Lucas stops by occasionally, same with Nathan. But it seems like nothing's going to make me feel better at this point in my life._

_Just as I expect Luke to come over I get a different visitor instead, or should I say visitors. I hear a knock at my front door, but don't bother answering it. I hear Taylor open the door and some sort of mumbling going on. The next thing I know, two of the three elites are standing in my bedroom. I keep my back faced to them the entire time, not wanting them to see my tears._

"_we need to talk" Rachel says. You have no idea how many times I've heard them say that._

"_no we don't." I say back calmly._

"_look, we told you not to hurt her and now it's like she can't stop crying" Peyton says._

"_that's not my problem. You're her friends, I'm just her ex-girlfriend"_

"_and that's what you're going to stay as" Rachel says. I freeze at the comment._

"_you're done hurting Brooke, you're done being with Brooke… and you're done loving Brooke"_

"_you can't stop me from loving her" I say._

"_no, but we can stop you from talking to her." Peyton starts and I finally turn around, not even caring what they think. "we want to make this clear… you are done with Brooke and she is done with you. Stay away from her" she threatens me._

"_what if she wants to see me?" I say putting the emphasis on me._

"_then let her, because by then she'll probably be ready to see you. But you leave her alone. We are not taking any chances of letting her get hurt like this again" Rachel says._

"… _just tell her to go to the internship and I'll never speak to her again, if that's what she wants"_

_End of Flashback_

"and what if I don't stay away from her?" because it's a little bit late for that.

"you don't want to find out" Peyton says in a serious tone.

They're about to turn around and exit the room when I speak up. "Just to let you know if _Brooke_ wants to see me, I'm going to do everything I can to make her fall in love with me"

Without a reply they both walk out of the sound booth, leaving me sitting by myself in this booth. Only a few hours until I can see her again.

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We've spent the last 4 and a half hours crammed into this room. And I think my voice is starting to go hoarse and my fingers are about one acoustic song away from bleeding.

"okay, Haley, let's take it back to the first verse and go from there" Peyton says over the speakers. I think Rachel fell asleep about 4 hours ago.

"Peyton can't we call it a day? I've got to meet someone" I say, looking at her through the glass window. She looks down at her watch and I can hear her sigh into the microphone.

"alright, that's it for today" she says and I jump for joy and throw my guitar off. "but we're coming back tomorrow for a full day, after that we have to get you back on a plane to finish your tour"

"sweet" I mumble and grab my purse. "bye boys" I say to the band. "bye Peyton, bye Rachel" I say, even though we all know she's asleep. Psh, super models, such babies. I quickly jet out of the room, not even waiting to hear a goodbye back. I get to the street and hail the closest cab.

"where to?" he asks.

"732 Long Branch street, please" time to go see my… Brooke. The driver starts going and in the mean time I pull out my song book to see if I can work on my latest one. But before I can even think about it, I see the driver look at me in the rear view mirror.

"hey, aren't you Haley James?" this happens way too much.

"I wish" I say and he gives me a head nod. I put my sunglasses down. Last thing I need is things slowing me down. As soon as we arrive at the building I toss the driver some cash and get out of the car. I never thought I'd be going into this place. Not under these circumstances. But I'm glad I am.

I open one of the glass doors and take the elevator up to the floor with Brooke's office on it. I can't believe Brooke owns this entire building. I feel like a giddy little school girl going in to a candy store or something. It's like I can't explain it. I get off on the right floor and immediately a clothes rack comes sweeping past me. I see all these business people, all fashionable, all work for Brooke. I'm so proud of her.

I walk up to the circular front desk and take off my sunglasses as I approach the girl who almost looks too young to work here.

"welcome to Clothes Over Br- Oh my god! You're Haley James!" she yells over excitedly. I didn't see this one coming. She jumps up from her seat and hugs me over the counter.

"oh, okay, hi" I say a little overwhelmed, and she pulls back.

"sorry, it's just. I love you" she says. Wow, that's weird, because I love your boss.

"oh thank you. It's always nice to meet a fan"

"so uh, how can I help you?" she asks with a surprisingly big smile.

"I'm here to see Brooke Davis"

"oh, um Miss. Davis is in a meeting currently and she won't be able to come out for about half an hour. But you're welcome to wait here" In a meeting? See that just won't work for rock star Haley James. Maybe tutor girl, Haley James, but not rock star.

"what's your name?" I ask, putting my plan into the works.

"Jenna" she replies with a smile.

"Jenna, you work the phones here at Clothes over Bros, right?"

"yep"

"then you probably know Brooke's cell phone number, right?"

"I do, however, Victoria, the CEO, takes care of her cell phone calls." She says and I feel like I'm never going to see her. "but…" Jenna says and I'm really starting to like this girl. She leans in closer and I can tell she's about to whisper something to me. Whisper's mean under the radar. That's exactly what I need. "I know for a fact her assistant always, _always_, passes on her personal messages right away."

"and would you happen to have her assistants number?" I whisper back. She pulls out a business card with a name and number on the back and slips it over to my hand.

"thank you Jenna. I owe you" I say with a wink and take a few steps away. I pull out my phone and start dialling the number. Within 1 ring I hear someone pick up.

"Brooke Davis' phone, Millicent speaking." She answers quietly, obviously in the meeting with Brooke.

"Hi, my name's Haley James, I'm looking for Brooke Davis"

"I'm sorry, but she's busy at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"sure, as soon as you can, just tell her Haley will be waiting in her office for her"

"Alright, I will" she replies, slightly confused.

"thank you" I say and hang up.

I see another clothes rack roll by and I quickly duck behind it so I can get passed all the security and important suits. I follow the rack into the halls until I know I'm in the clear. I walk down to the end of the hall knowing that's where all the important people's offices are. I look up at the name plates on the doors and I finally get to my last door. And it has her name on it. I enter the office making sure no one sees me, thinking I'm breaking and entering, which I kind of am.

I close the door behind me and it looks like I still have about 20 minutes until Brooke's done with her meeting. Might as well make myself comfortable. I take a seat in her very large swivel chair and do a little spin. I look at her desk and see her computer and little notes all over. I look at the walls and see some of her old sketches up and framed. I remember seeing a couple of these in high school. I knew she was going to be a huge designer even back then. I look back down to the desk and I see a picture in a frame. It's of Brooke, Rachel and Peyton when they were younger, before I even met Brooke. I don't think anything will be able to split those girls up. Even after 5 years of their careers they're still together.

I hear a jiggle at the door and I already know who it is. I see the door open and Brooke quickly shut it behind her.

"sorry, miss, do you have an appointment? I am a very busy person" I say as I lean back in the chair and put my feet up on the desk.

"oh I'm sorry, I could have swore this huge corner office had _my_ name on the door" she says as she walks over to me.

"that's alright, but I think I'm going to have to have my friend Jenna, who answers the phones, escort you out. I've got a few jobs lined up today"

"oh Jenna, so that's how you got in. Yeah, now that you mention it she does have a weakness for celebrities" she says walking even closer to me.

"so how did your meeting go?" I ask as Brooke takes a seat across my lap and wraps an arm around my neck. I guess she's starting to feel a little more comfortable with me.

"good"

"I heard it was _very _important"

"yes, it _very_ was. I was behind on some sketches for the fall line and had to pitch them as soon as I drew them."

"so is that what you were working on this morning?"

"maybe…" she says with a smile. Oh how I've missed that smile.

"anymore meetings today?"

"Why? What did you have in mind?" she asks as she leans in closer. Instead of saying anything I just lean in closer to her as well and press my lips onto hers.

"I think my schedule just cleared up"

"I thought it would" I say. She gets up from my lap and pulls me up with her. "want to grab some lunch?" I ask.

"yeah, just let me get my purse" she says walking behind the desk to get some stuff. I grab my bag by the door and wait for her. Just as she's about to walk out of the room with me we here a buzz come from her desk.

"Miss. Davis? Miss. Saywer and Miss Gattina are here to see you" Jenna says. I'm starting to not like Jenna anymore. What do I do?

Brooke walks over to her desk and presses a button on the machine "alright, send them to my office" she says with a smile and lifts her finger from the button. "this is great, we can all go out to lunch and get reacquainted. Peyton came by yesterday and told me I was depressing. But lately I've been feeling pretty happy"

"a-are you sure this is what you want?"

"Of course" she says and confidently grabs my hand. All of a sudden Brooke's office door swings open and we see Rachel with a smile on her face.

"Brookie!" she yells, but comes to a fast halt when she sees me. Peyton runs up behind her and bumps into Rachel because of the quick stop.

"hey Rach" Brooke says with a shy smile.

"Haley?" Peyton asks.

"hey Peyton… Rachel… long time no see eh?" yeah, like half an hour long. This should be fun.

**So another chapter down and now you know one of the plot points with the elites and how they stopped Haley from seeing her. Next chapter things start unravelling and shit happens. lol**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter

**Chapter**

We're sitting in the back of a restaurant avoiding any and all media. I'm sitting beside Brooke, and we're sitting across the table from Peyton and Rachel. And we all can't help but stare at each other. Brooke thinks it's awkward because they see me suddenly show up in her office. But it's actually only awkward because they told me about an hour ago to stay away from Brooke, but it's not like they can say anything about it in front of her. And me? Well I know everything but I can't exactly rat out Brooke's friends. I need them to like me at this point.

Until then, I'll just have to pretend like I haven't seen Rachel or Peyton in a long time.

"So Brooke, how'd your clothing line pitch go this morning?" Peyton asks her, avoiding the elephant in the room.

"good, they seemed to like a lot of my designs." Brooke replies.

"I thought you were struggling to make those designs" Rachel questions.

"I had a moment of inspiration recently" Brooke says. It's nice to know Brooke wants me around.

"hm" Peyton says looking over at me.

"so how'd your business thing go last night, Peyt?" Brooke asks.

"oh, um not so great. The guy I was supposed to see bailed on me last second, but I think I know why now"

"oh that sucks" Brooke says, and we're back to our awkward silence. This is starting to kill me, and by the looks of it, Brooke too. "okay I can't take this anymore" she speaks up. "go ahead. Ask."

"ask what?" Rachel asks.

"obviously you want to ask something, I know _I_ had plenty of questions when Haley showed up" she says.

"well now that you mention it…" Peyton starts. "when did you two meet up?"

"last night" I answer.

"how?" Rachel asks, and I guess that is the more important question.

"Right after you left, Peyton, I heard a knock on my door and I opened it to see none other than this girl right here." Oh crap.

"is that so?" Peyton asks as she and Rachel both stare at me.

"yep" Brooke answers. She places her hand on mine underneath the table, probably seeing how tense I am. I think I'm going to be sick.

"excuse me for a minute" I say getting out of the booth and heading straight for the bathroom. I close the door behind me and thankfully no one else is in here with me, because I think I'm going to have a panic attack. And if that wasn't enough, seconds later I see Peyton and Rachel walk in through the bathroom door. Oh god, this can't turn out good.

"what did we say!?" Peyton asks hypothetically, as they surround me.

"look, I went to see her yesterday, yes, but-"

"-we said to stay away from her unless she wanted to see you!" Rachel yells. "and now we find you in her office today? What the hell is the matter with you?" okay, that ticked me off.

"what the hell is the matter with _me_?!" I repeat. "What the hell is that matter with _you_?"

"excuse me?" Peyton asks.

"you heard me! Two years ago, Brooke came to the opening night of my sister's bar to see me? Doesn't that qualify for her wanting to see me?! I'd say so. But see, I didn't find out about _that_ night, until _yesterday_. Don't you think it would have been nice if you had told _me_?"

"don't yell at us!" Rachel yells at me.

"I'll yell at you all I want! You not only kept me from the person I love, but you kept Brooke, your _best friend_, from being happy! What does that say about you two?" I yell back at them.

"it wasn't _our job_ to tell you if she wanted to see you or not!" Rachel yells.

"no, but maybe as her friends you should have told her that you told me to stay away! Maybe you should have told her the only reason I didn't come knocking on her door earlier was because of you! If you hadn't told me to stay away I would have been with Brooke a hell of a long time ago. And it's because of you guys that she has been _miserable_ for the passed 5 years"

"we thought she would get over it… we thought she would get over you" Rachel says as she starts to soften up. But I'm not letting up that easily.

"did you miss the part in high school where she told me she _loved_ me? Did you miss the part where she said I was the only person she had ever fallen in love with? You didn't honestly believe that it would go away that easily did you?"

"no, but we thought it would eventually" Peyton says. "but what we didn't anticipate was her finding her soul mate in high school… We thought she would get over it eventually or maybe bury herself in her work. But she never stopped loving you, and we felt terrible about it!" Peyton admits.

"then why didn't you change it!?" I yell, and I can feel my voice start cracking.

"_because it was too late_…" Rachel says emotionally.

"and what do you call this? Perfect timing?" I ask hypothetically. "it is _never_ toolate for love…" I say and everyone falls silent, except for the occasional sniffle from our crying. Just mere seconds after our yelling dies down the door quickly opens and Brooke walks in.

"what the hell are you guys yelling about? The whole restaurant can hear yelling from in here" she says, obviously not knowing what we were talking about. How do you tell the girl you love her best friends since forever, kept her from love?

_The answer: you don't... You let her friends tell her._

Brooke looks at all of us and we all share a glance. "look, Brooke, I've got to leave New York for about a week, I've got my concerts to finish up. I think you need to talk to your friends…"

"but I thought you didn't have to leave until tomorrow"

"I think it'd be better if I wasn't here for this. But when you're done call me on my cell phone. Anytime day or night. I don't care. Just call me, even if it's just to tell me what's on your mind. Okay?"

"okay…" she whispers back, still a little confused. I give her a quick kiss on the lips and exit the bathroom. I guess it's up to Rachel and Peyton to take care of it.

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As soon as I was out of there I packed my stuff up at home and caught the next flight out to Las Vegas to meet Jerry, my old manager, I guess. I basically stayed in my hotel for 24 hours, waiting for that call from Brooke, but it never came.

I went straight from the hotel to the concert stadium. I live for these concerts but I barely spoke to anyone. The only thing that came out of my mouth before the concert was my singing for the sound tests. As soon as those were done I stayed in my room until the concert started. I couldn't really think about anything besides _her._ Oh god, am I back to that now? Not being able to say her name. I sat there on the couch with my cell phone in hand. Right now this has become my lifeline.

I want to call her, but I told her to call me. And right now I don't even know where we stand or even where her friends stand. It's all up in the air. She could hate her friends for telling me to stay away. She could even hate me for listening to them. It's all up to her.

And just as if the gods have answered my wish, my phone starts ringing. I barely let it get through one ring before I pick it up.

"Hello?" I ask, and I'm met with silence. I'm about to ask hello again when I hear some rustling in the background.

"…hi" she says quietly. It's just as if I'd shown up on her door step again.

"hi…" I repeat. "do you hate me?"

I hear her give a small laugh and it already makes me feel better. "no" she replies simply.

"do you hate your friends?"

"I'm mad at them, yeah, but I could never… hate them" she says hesitantly.

"so are _you_ okay?"

"No. I miss you" and I think my heart just exploded from too much love.

"I miss you too. I really do. I wish I was there with you"

"I know you do. But you're coming back to New York in a few days right?"

"that's right. And the first thing I'm going to do when I get back is kiss you."

"is that so?"

"yes it is." I reply with a smile. She can even make me smile over the phone. "so they told you everything?"

"unfortunately, yes." She sighs. "how they told you to stay away from me unless I came to you, and how you didn't find out until just a couple of days ago that I tried to see you."

"good, at least we've got everything straight"

"yeah, that's true. Thank you"

"for what?"

"going against my friends and coming to see me"

"truth is, I've wanted to see you for the longest time. I'm just sorry I didn't do it sooner…"

"sooner would have been nicer, but I guess it's better than never"

"you know it" I reply.

"Haley, I just wanted you to know the rules we made back in high school… the new rules we made - thanks to you - that third rule has never been broken." Of course how could I forget rule number 3: always keep a place for Haley James in my heart.

"it's… it's amazing to hear that, Brooke. It really is"

"it's amazing to finally say it." She says.

"so do you think you might come out and visit me on one of my tour dates?" I ask hopefully.

"I don't think so Hales, I really want to, but it's not going to work with my schedule" she says to my dismay. "but it's only a week right?"

"a week without you is way too long"

"I know. That's why I had something fed-exed over to your hotel while you were on your flight"

"you did, did you?" ooh I love presents.

"yes I did, and I have a feeling your going to like it _a lot._"

"ooh, is it money?"

"no" she laughs.

"chocolate?"

"no…" she says in a teasing tone.

"is it you? Because if it is I hope you poked some air holes"

"yes, Haley, it's me. Now hurry up and let me out" she says sarcastically.

"okay, well just tell me, I can't wait now"

"I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to wait until your concert is over"

"aww" I whine. "will you call me afterwards?"

"of course I will" she says. All of a sudden there's a knock at my door and Jerry pokes his head in.

"let's go kiddo" he says and I nod. He closes the door and I go back to Brooke.

"well, I just received the signal that I am to go on stage now. So I have to go"

"alright, have fun up there."

"I will… oh and Brooke?"

"yeah"

"I'm going to miss you"

"… I'm going to miss you too." She says sweetly, and that's all I need to hear to make my mood go from sad to extraordinarily happy. "now get up there and make thousands of teenie boppers happy"

"hey, my target is not teenie boppers"

"what ever. Break a leg, babe"

"bye" I say and hang up. _Babe_. It's starting to feel just like high school, and I like that feeling, because in high school I was happy. I put my phone away in my bag and I walk outside to see the security guards and all of the people helping out with the concert surrounding me.

"who's ready to make some music?!" I asked excitedly. It's been a while since I've been this excited about a concert. Jerry hands me my guitar and I get back out on the stage.

On stage is one of the most amazing feelings ever. It's my second favourite place to be. The first being with Brooke. But if I'm not with Brooke I'm glad I'm here. As soon as I run up on the stage I hear the crowd go wild. Now I know what Nathan feels like when he goes onto the basketball court in the NBA.

"hey Las Vegas, how you all doing tonight?" I ask with a smile, and get a roaring stadium answer me. "good, that's good. I'm glad to hear it. I'm happy tonight, what about you guys?" another cheer back. "good, because I want you guys to know it's all of you that make me happy. So that being said, I want to return the favour, and play you all a concert you'll remember. Hit it guys!" I say and the band starts up.

This is what I live for… but she is what I would die for.

**Another chapter up. So I know I skipped over Brooke's talk with her friends, but I don't intend on putting it in the story. But the information of what happened should come out within the next couple of chapter. Until then you'll have to remain on the edge of your seats until my next update. lol. **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Okay, so I lied, the information about the elites' fight will be revealed next chapter, but this chapter sort of leads up to it.**

After the show, I came down the stairs with a smile on my face. It's rare that I have a smile like this. You want to know why I'm smiling? Not only did I play an amazing show, but I now get to go home and see my present from Brooke. And not to mention…

My phone starts ringing and I look down at the screen. "Lucas!" I answer happily. I always look forward to his calls.

"Rock star!" he mimics my greeting.

"how are you doing?" I ask excitedly. Being on stage really gives you a rush. I can still feel my heart pounding in my chest. I tore the roof off tonight.

"I'm pretty good. Are you okay? It sounds like you're about to have a heart attack" he jokes.

"yeah, just… I just had a great show!"

"are you sure that's it… or maybe it's the fact that you talked to _Brooke_" oooh he found out.

"I don't know what you're talking about" and I can't conceal my large grin. It's a good thing we're on the phone.

"yeah, right. Spill it"

"okay, I saw Brooke" I say still over excited.

"and…?"

"well let's just say there was some yelling, and some arguing and some tears, but then let's just say there was some more yelling, but not the angry kind if you catch my drift…"

"oh I catch your drift… I kind of wish I hadn't though"

"oh be quiet"

"so are you and her finally back together?"

"sort of… I'm finishing up my concerts then I'm going back to New York to her"

"are you dating?"

"… I'm not sure we're there yet"

"oh so we're going backwards here? Sex then dating? Makes sense, I suppose" he says sarcastically.

"I guess we're just kind of falling back into old habits, and that I don't mind because it's almost like we're back to what we used to be."

"yeah, but now you do realize you have like everything else to worry about. I mean you both have two completely different careers, if you haven't noticed."

"yes, but my career is now attached to Peyton's career, who is your girlfriend and Brooke's best friend."

"looks like we're all connected… but that still doesn't mean you guys can spend every second of everyday together like you did in high school"

"Lucas! Are you _trying_ to bring me down from cloud 9? Seriously, I'm happy and let's just leave it at that"

"okay, fine, be happy, be in denial, what ever"

"Luke…" I groan seeing as he really is bringing me down from my happiness.

"okay, I'm sorry. So you're happy?"

"more than ever"

"then, that's all I could ask for." He says sincerely.

"thank you. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my hotel to see the present Brooke left for me"

"ten dollars says it's a sex toy" yeah, like I'd take that bet. There's probably a 50 percent chance I'll lose.

"nice try buddy. But I already learned that lesson once before" that's a story for another time.

"alright, I'll talk to you later, _rock star of the now_" he says with a small laugh.

"alright, goodbye _next great novelist of our time_" I say and hang up. I love our little talks after my concerts. They could last minutes or hours and I'd still have fun just talking to Lucas. After taking care of business after the concert and shaking the hands of all the business men back stage I finally get to leave. It's almost 2:00am and I can't wait to get back to the hotel.

Jerry drops me off and thankfully no photographers are there. I'm sure most of them are sleeping, like I should be. I bypass any of the bell hops and clerks on my way into the hotel and quickly up to my room. Out of the elevator and to the white door with the gold looking doorknob. With a swipe of a card and the beep of the green light I'm in. I toss my stuff down onto the couch and see a package sitting on my table.

This must be it. I rip it open, suddenly not so tired, and it seems the package is very small and feels like there's nothing in it. I open it up and the only thing inside if a lacy bra. Leave it to Brooke to make it miss me more than I already do. I pull out my cell phone and start calling her, regardless of what time it is here or in New York.

I hear the rings in my phone as they go on and on, but I think I hear something else. But it's not coming from my phone. It's the ringing of another phone. I pick up the hotel phone, but that's not it, because I can still hear the phone ringing. Is it…? It couldn't be. I let my cell phone continue to call Brooke and follow the noise of the other ringing. I make my way over to the master bedroom and push the sliding doors open. As soon as I see what's in front of me I end my phone call.

There, sitting on my bed is Brooke in a bathrobe, wearing no bra, but the matching thong to my package, and fast asleep. It's one of the cutest things I have ever seen. She probably wanted to surprise me for the night, but I didn't really anticipate being out this late. I walk up beside her and pull the cell phone out of her hand and place it on the bedside table. I pull the covers out from underneath Brooke and put them on top of her, trying not to wake her up, but it's no use.

"Hales?" she mumbles as she stirs from her slumber.

"shh, go back to sleep" I say as I tuck her in.

"I tried waiting for you, I wanted it to be a surprise"

"I know. I'm sorry, I was held back at the concert. Go to sleep, we can talk in the morning"

"I have to leave early in the morning. I only managed to get away for a few hours" she mumbles, trying to wake up, but she's just too tired. I walk around the side of the bed and pull off my jeans, but leave my shirt on. I can take off my make up later. I crawl into the bed beside her and shuffle my body closer to hers.

"go back to sleep. I'm just glad I get to spend a few hours with you" I whisper as I kiss the side of her face lightly.

"mm, me too" she says as she closes her eyes and wraps an arm around my back to pull me closer.

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I'm awoken by the buzzing of an alarm clock beside my head. Brooke must have set it. I crack my eyes open to see it 9:00am. Doesn't she know rock stars require at least 12 hours of sleep a night? I fully open my eyes and look around to see a very large hotel room, and a very large bed. Large, but empty. She must have left when I was sleeping. I look around the bedroom area and I know it's here. Ah, there it is. Sitting atop the bedside table is a note from her.

_Haley,_

_Didn't want to wake you, I had to catch a flight back to NYC at 5:30am. I'm sorry the surprise didn't work out better, but I can't wait to see you when you come back. I set the alarm clock to a specific time. If you woke up when you are supposed to I should be sitting in my office right now, expecting your call. You have until 9:03 to make that call._

_xoxo_

_BD_

I look at the clock at it's already 9:02am. Where's my phone. I find it on my table and quickly jump up to dial her number. Within 3 rings I hear her cheerful voice.

"I knew the alarm clock thing would work" she answers instead of hello. As soon as I hear her voice I get back under my cozy blankets.

"is there any real reason you had me wake up this early?"

"of course there is. I wanted to talk to you" she uses as her explanation. How can I argue with that?

"how are you doing Brooke?" I ask.

"I'm great, now. My fall line was approved"

"that's great Brooke!"

"yeah, but that means everything's going to get hectic now. We have to redraw the sketches, edit them, redraw them again, create them, then recreate them… and of course after all of that we have to get them approved and _then_ we can finally do the show, which is like twice as much work"

"well the good news is, that once I'm done my tour I'll be staying in New York for a while recording and all, so we can spend more time together"

"good, because I'm going to need you by my side."

"well, in just a few days I'll be there. Until then, I have two more shows in Vegas again, and then England."

"okay, well when you come back give me a call and I'll come pick you"

"are you going to pull a 'Cruel Intentions' move and wait for me at the top of the escalator with a bouquet of flowers in hand?"

"damn, you foiled my plan" she says sarcastically.

"hey, last time I guessed your plan I was right" remember, last night, I knew she would show up.

"that was a lucky guess" she says.

"or maybe I just know you so well I'm inside your head"

"oh yeah? Then what am I thinking this very moment?" she's obviously thinking about me.

"you're thinking… that you wish you were still right here beside me in this cozy king sized bed"

"…and?" she urges me on.

"and we were having some crazy sex or something" I say with a smirk. Such a dirty bird.

"you know me so well" she replies.

"speaking of people who know you so well, have you talked with Peyton and Rachel?"

"no, I uh… I haven't talked to them since they told me everything…" she says in sort of a dark way.

"Brooke, are you even talking to them at all?" I ask.

I hear her let out a heavy sigh, probably not wanting to talk about this with me. "no, I'm just taking a couple of days to cool off. I don't want to say anything I might regret at this point… at least not again" she mutters at the last second.

"what?" I ask to clarify, even though I heard it.

"nothing. Look, I have to go, Victoria wants to talk to me about something. I'll talk to you later, kay?" she asks, avoiding the subject.

"alright, bye" I say quietly and I hear the line go dead. What isn't she telling me? Maybe I should call Peyton. I go through my phone for the number Peyton left me and start dialling.

"hey" she answers, already knowing it's me.

"hey, how'd things with Brooke go?"

"fine" okay, now Peyton's lying to me.

"okay." I say in a defeated tone. "… now how did it _really_ go?"

"look, Haley, I think you should only use this line for business, if you want to talk personal you're going to have to wait until you come back to New York." _Oh yeah, something totally happened._

"alright, when I come back we're going to talk about it"

"what ever. Did you finish your song?" she asks, changing subject quickly.

"no, not yet, but it's almost there."

"good. When you're done with the tour we can start recording again"

"alright. I'll talk to you later, I have to go do get ready for tonight's show. Later Sawyer"

"See ya, James" she replies and hangs up the phone.

I don't know what happened between them, but something's up. I guess I'm going to have to wait until I come back to talk about it. Because I doubt Brooke would tell me, and Peyton sure as hell won't tell me. Too bad I don't have Rachel's number. Until then, I'll occupy myself with my music.

Well, I guess it's off to work I go.

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The concerts were all pretty much the same. Go in, in the morning to do sound check and rehearsals with my band. Take a break, go out to eat, back again to warm up my voice. Grab some quick food from inside the stadium. Talk with my manager. Call Brooke. Do the show. Talk to Luke, go to sleep and do it all over again in another country. I know I said I love playing music up on that stage, and I do, but sometimes you just need a break. And sometimes it's hard to play those shows when you have someone else waiting for you back home.

Not a day goes by that I don't miss her. I think I miss her now more than I did over the last few years. It's because I've seen her, I've smelled her, I've touched her, and I miss it all.

But it's all good now, because my tour is over, and I'm on the plane back to New York to meet her. She promised me she would be waiting for me outside the terminal. Unfortunately she won't be able to greet me outside, she said she's going to have the limo waiting for me instead. Another thing we have to worry about is the photographers and paparazzi. We haven't really 'declared' our 'relationship', if you could even call it that. But I know it's something. As soon I step off the plane and into the public I'm bombarded by flashes from photographers. I'm not even doing anything special, I'm just getting off a plane. Since when does that make for front page news?

"Haley! Haley! Is it true you're secretly dating someone?!" what? Where'd he get that from? Even though it's true.

"who is it Haley?! Orlando Bloom?" like he'd have a chance with me.

"Justin Timberlake?" I've never even met him. Well I did once, but not really. He just handed me a napkin.

"Kate Bosworth?" another guy asks. Tempting but no. One reason why I seem to be more popular is because everyone knows about my sexuality. I mean come on people, it's pretty common now a days.

"Haley! Haley!" more photographers yell. I try covering my face with my arms as best as I can as a security guard leads me to where I want to go. I look up for a brief second and see the words 'Tutor-Girl' written on a plain white sign, held by a driver in a black and white suit.

"you really want to know who it is?" I ask the photographers. And they all reply with their yelling and such. "okay, there he is, right over there" I yell pointing in the opposite direction. They all turn their cameras around and start clicking as I make a mad dash for the driver.

He notices who I am and points to the limo. We jog out to the car and I can see the photographers start chasing me again. He opens the door for me and I jump in. Thank God for tinted windows.

"pretty crazy out there, huh tutor girl?" she asks in her scratchy voice that she knows I have a soft spot for. I swear she does that on purpose.

"you have no idea" I say as I put my over night bag down on the floor and lean over to kiss her. I'm glad I fed-exed my luggage home from England. Or else, this would have been one slow get away. Within seconds we feel the car jerk forward and we speed off out of the parking lot, but I'm still kissing her. A week away is way too long.

We reach my apartment and I convinced Brooke to stay over for a while and get comfortable, just like in high school. We manage to sneak up into my apartment, going unnoticed.

"welcome to casa de Haley James" I say to Brooke, jokingly as I open up the door for us to go in.

(Brooke's POV)

We enter her apartment and I've never been in here. It's nice though, I like it a lot. It's so much smaller than my home apartment. But I prefer small. The only reason I bought my place was because I wanted a quick apartment away from Victoria.

"home sweet home, huh?" I ask as I take a few steps around the open area.

"That it is. I'll be back in a minute; I'm just going to put my bag down in my room. After that, I want to talk about your friends" she threatens. Great, I really didn't want to talk about them. Ever. I give the smallest nod and watch as she heads down one hall. I look around and find myself looking out a large window onto the streets of New York. Hey look, a billboard of Clothes Over Bros. Go me.

All of a sudden, I hear something. But it's not coming from the direction that Haley went in. It's in the opposite direction. Oh my god, did someone break into her apartment?

"Haley?" I call out, but I don't get an answer. Oh my god. Now I'm scared. I pick up an umbrella from behind the front door and walk towards the sound. It's coming from behind a door. I'm about to kick down the door in my 5 inch stilettos when I realize that's a terrible idea. Instead the door starts to open and I bring the umbrella up above my head, ready to strike at any moment.

I see the door open and some pretty boy walk out, suddenly startled by the crazy woman holding an umbrella.

"who the hell are you?!" I ask. I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my chest.

"sorry. I didn't know anyone else was here. I'm Chris, Chris Keller, Haley's husband" he says as he extends his hand out for me to shake.

…_Husband?_

**Another chapter in the bag. Bet you weren't expecting that ending… were you?**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter

**Chapter**

**So I got a lot of reviews from the last chapter, my favourite was probably the one where one person said "no fuken way" lol, so big thanks goes out to palex4ever. Anyways I hope you all like this extra long chapter. i'm trying to update more, but my computer is having issues. Something like my virtual memory is low? w/e.  
**

"sorry. I didn't know anyone else was here. I'm Chris, Chris Keller, Haley's husband" he says as he extends his hand out for me to shake. Did he just seriously say husband? Haley has a freakin husband?! Why didn't I know this?! This can't be possible.

"Brooke-" Haley says walking out of a room and out to see me standing in front of her _husband_. I still can't get over it.

"Haley!" Chris yells happily. He retracts his hand back from me and walks over to Haley who's frozen.

"Chris, what are you doing here?" she asks, still fazed by his appearance.

"thought I'd swing by, I didn't know you had company" he says putting his arm on her shoulder and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"yeah, just meeting your _husband_, Haley!" I yell angrily. This is so screwed up.

"Chris, get off of me!" she yells pushing him away. I start heading to the door. I can't believe this. After all that happened…

"Brooke, wait. It's not what it looks like" Haley says jumping in front of me and closing the door.

"really? Cause it looks like you're _married! _Married Haley! You're fucking married?!" I can't get over that word.

"no, Brooke calm down. He's not my husband" wait what?

"then who is he?" I ask, suddenly starting to calm down.

"I did my first tour with him as opening acts for Gavin Degraw, he's an old friend of mine . We have this thing that he helps me get rid of one night stands when they over stay their welcome. He comes in and says he's my husband to scare them off" she says all in one breath.

I don't say anything, instead I look over at the guy and he's digging through her fridge.

"Haley, you got any pickles? I've got an odd craving for them" he says, still bent over.

"really?" I ask to be sure.

"_really_" she confirms. "come on" she says grabbing my hand and leading me over to the kitchen.

"hey wifey" Chris says with a mouth full of pickles. That's just nasty. Oh and talking with your mouth full is nasty too.

"shut up, Chris." She says quickly as she grabs the jar of pickles from his hands and closing it for him. "this is Brooke. Now tell her you're not my husband"

"I'm not her husband" he says like he doesn't even care. He's just hungry. He looks over at me and quickly looks me up and down. "hold on, Haley, isn't this that fashion designer chick you're always writing songs about?" he asks as if I'm not even there. At least I know Haley used to think about me now.

"Brooke Davis" I correct him.

"right" he says as he finally manages to swallow the food in his mouth.

"Haley, how'd you snag a hottie like her?" he asks, once again as if I'm not here.

"we dated in high school" she answers quickly.

"really? Any chance Chris Keller could get in on this" oh god, he's one of those guys that talk in third person. They always annoy me.

"not a chance in hell" she says pushing him out of the way so she can shut the fridge door. "so what are you doing here?"

"I was hungry… and I heard you finished your tour yesterday. You know word on the street is you're dating someone famous. But no one knew who. Guess I know now"

"yeah, and you're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Haley asks. And we see Chris continuously stare at us. Probably day dreaming about some creepy threesome. "_are you?_" Haley repeats this time louder, snapping him out of his wet dream.

"yeah, no. What ever. Don't worry" he says taking a bite out of his other pickle. I can tell this guy's a pain in the ass already. "so what's this I hear about you signing with Peyton Sawyer?"

"yeah, contract with Titan records was over, so she picked me up"

"you know I tapped that once" Chris says proudly.

"oh yeah right" I finally chime in. "I know her, she would never sleep with someone like you"

"okay, fine, I tried sleeping with her once. Got shot down. What ever" he says finally telling the truth. "she was with some red head model. I tapped _her_"

"no you didn't" I say and he looks up at me as I call his bluffs.

"okay, fine, she shot me down too. Jeez, way to lower a guy's self esteem" he says making Haley and I laugh a little.

"speaking of Peyton and Rachel, I wanted to talk to you about them" Haley says to me. "so that means you're leaving" she says pushing Chris towards the door.

"but I'm hungry." He whines. Haley opens the fridge and tosses the jar of pickles to him. He catches them with ease and once satisfied heads out the front door closing it behind him.

"sorry about the husband thing" she apologizes to me.

"it's okay, but if someone pops out of here saying she's your wife, I'm leaving."

"don't worry, no wives, fake or real" she says leading me towards the couches in the living room. "so what exactly happened between you and your friends? I called Peyton and she seemed pretty upset about it." Serves her right.

"I think it's just lack of sex" I say jokingly as I start kissing Haley's neck. "we don't have to worry about that, now do we?"

"Brooke" Haley moans in a soft voice.

"where did you say that bedroom was?" I ask, pulling back a little bit. She smirks at me and starts pulling me towards her bedroom. At this point, I'll do anything to avoid talking about Peyton and Rachel.

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(Haley's POV)

I awoke the next morning, back in my own bed, but this time I had my girl beside me too. She had an arm draped over my body, and my arm trapped underneath hers. Not that I could feel it. All circulation had been cut off at this point. But I didn't want to pull it away. That would risk waking her up. And she just looked too cute.

My mind travels back to yesterday as I remember I still have to worry about the press and what not. I have to call a conference meeting telling everyone I'm switched to Peyton's Record Label… which by the way, I should really find out the name of. Ever since I talked to her I only call it her 'record label'. Speaking of Peyton, Brooke intentionally distracted me from that conversation. Damn her and her sexy body. All of a sudden I hear a ringing, a loud ringing. Shit it's my cell phone. I quickly stretch the bed side table in avoidance of waking Brooke. My arm still trapped beneath her body.

"hello?" I whisper into the phone.

"hey, want to meet for breakfast? We need to discuss some stuff about your contract" Peyton says to me through the phone.

"what time?"

"20 minutes at Wally's" she says in a normal tone. Wally's? oh wait, that's that place down the street.

"okay" I whisper back.

"why are you whispering?"

"no reason. I-I… just woke up" I sort of tell the truth.

"what ever. Tell Brooke I say hi when she wakes up" she says and hangs up the phone. I don't even see the point in lying anymore. Everyone knows the truth when it comes to Brooke. Well except for the public and all…

I turn my vision back to the beauty sleeping beside me and frown. How the hell am I supposed to meet Peyton if I'm trapped? Even in her sleep she manages to keep me beside her. Okay let's try something.

I wrap my free arm around her body and cuddle with her for a few seconds and let her get comfortable. As soon as she sinks into my warmth I slowly push her over on her side and roll her off my arm. Sweet, it's working. I roll back, without her and easily slip my arm away. I knew watching 'Friends' for all those years would pay off.

I jump out of bed silently and get changed into a pair of tight jeans and a top I bought in Vegas that looks like I'm wearing two tank tops and a scarf around my neck to top it off. I look back at Brooke and she looks so adorable seeing her arms and legs tangled up in my sheets. I put a shoulder bag on my arm, grab my phone and lean down to give Brooke a wet kiss on the cheek. I see her shift uncomfortably in her sleep and smile to myself. I should probably leave a note.

I rip out a piece of paper from my song book and pull out a pen.

_Brooke,_

_Had to talk to Peyton about music stuff. Help yourself to what ever you want in the apartment. Call me when you have time. Have fun at work._

_-H. James_

I leave the note by her head on the bed side table and make my way out the door and onto the streets of New York City. As I pass the stands that sell knock off purses like Prado instead of Prada, or Gucci with one c, I think about what it would be like if I wasn't a musician. What if I was one of those business people who work in an office and wear a pant suit every day?

I'd probably be wearing dreary colours like grey, white and black constantly. I wouldn't be able to do that, I need colour in my life. If I had a real job I'd probably meet people named Bob or Jim or Beth, people with simple names. We'd stand by the water cooler for 15 minutes a day and talk about nothing. And then I think to my life. I can wear what ever I want and I get to go out to break fast every morning at a place called Wally's. Yeah, I'd totally want my life too.

I open the glass door to the small breakfast joint and spot the curly blonde in the corner booth with her aviators hovering over her eyes. She spots me and waves me over.

"hey" I say as I take a seat across from her.

"hi"

"so what's up?"

"well first, congrats on finishing your tour, now we can finally start on your new record and make you even more famous"

"I like the sound of that" I say as I take the shoulder bag off of my shoulder and put it down beside me.

"so the contract I've got set up is just a standard contract like you had with Titan records, but it's for 5 years instead of 3. It's a big difference and I need to make sure you're committed to it"

"of course I am. Music is my life" I say as she pulls out the contract for me to look over.

"I thought Brooke was your life" Peyton says as I soon fall into a trance of the contract. So many words, so many pages.

"yeah, her too" I mutter back and I hear her chuckle.

"you take care of her, you hear?" she says playfully and I look up at her, not even laughing. Even though I can't see her eyes I can tell her emotions right now are fake. She's hurting.

"what happened Peyton?" I ask softly and her smile soon fades.

"nothing, don't you worry about it. It's done, Brooke's happy. That's all Rachel and I ever wanted" she says trying to pull off a smile, but it just ain't working on me.

"Brooke's happy, why aren't you happy?"

"… it's complicated"

"I'm a smart person." I try to coax her into spilling.

"… might as well tell you" Peyton says through a chuckle. She sweeps her eyes under her sunglasses and I can tell she's crying. This is already starting to look bad. "she said it's over…"

"what's over?"

"… the elites" I thought all that stuff ended after high school.

"what do you mean the elites are over? Didn't you guys kind of stop that stuff when we graduated?"

"we stopped saying all that junk about the rules and parties when we graduated yeah, but our friendship as elites was never over. Not until Brooke called us out on it. When she found out what happened she said it was over."

"so you guys aren't friends now or what?"

"no, we're still friends. But that's it. Not best friends, nothing more."

"oh come on, you guy always make up. Remember when all of your stupid rules were broken in high school? You guys got over that" okay, the breaking of the rules in High School was kind of my fault, but what ever.

"it's not that simple. We've been friends for 14 years… not once has it gotten to the point where the elites would end."

"so you'll fix things and everything will go back to the way it was"

"I don't think so… I don't think this is something she can get over easily. You should have seen her that night Haley. I don't think I've ever seen her so broken up. God, I feel so terrible for everything…" Peyton says burying her face in her hands.

"what about Rachel? Where is she?"

"I don't know she took off after Brooke left, muttering something about going back to work"

"you don't know where she is?!" I yell quietly.

"she said she'd be at work, so I believed her"

"have you heard from her or tried contacting her?"

"no…"

"Peyton!" I yell in an accusing tone.

"what?!"

"call Rachel and find out where she is. I'm going to go and talk to Brooke about this" God, I didn't even eat breakfast. Life's a bitch ain't it?

Before I leave the small restaurant I turn back to see Peyton pulling out her phone. "Peyton, just a quick question, what's the name of your label?"

"Elite Records" wow, didn't see that one coming. "ironic isn't it?... how I named the label after our friendship because I thought it was so strong, only to find out 5 years later it falls apart." She says and I finally take me leave. I guess things just work out like that.

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Instead of walking home I caught a cab that cost me 15 to drive like 2 blocks. NYC is so expensive. I run up to my floor, well, I run to the elevator and then run to my door. Let's not exaggerate now. I open the door using my key and go straight for the bedroom, but as soon as I open the door I see an empty bed. Of course she wouldn't be in my room. That would just make life to easy. I think God hates me.

She must be at work. Just as I'm about to catch another cab and go down to Clothes over Bros, my phone starts ringing. I get in the cab, tell him the directions and answer the phone.

"hello?"

"hey. I tried calling Rachel but there was no answer. Then I tried calling her agent but she said Rachel was supposed to in New York for a few days between shoots."

"so you have no idea where she is?"

"no"

"does she have a boyfriend or something?"

"this is Rachel we're talking about" she reminds me. Okay, no boyfriend, got it.

"does she have a place to stay in New York?"

"she usually just stays with me" Peyton explains. "Haley, I'm really starting to freak out now"

"Okay, don't worry. Does her family still own a house in Tree Hill?"

"you don't think she… went back, do you?"

"well, where else would she be?"

"okay, I'll try calling her home number. Have you talked to Brooke?" I look out the window and I see the c over b logo staring me in the face.

"I'm going to meet her now. Call me back later"

"will do" she says and hangs up. I pay the driver and get out of the vehicle. This probably won't be a conversation Brooke wants to have, but it has to be done. Brooke loves her friends too much to let them go like this.

I go up to her floor, passing Jenna with a wink and she just smiles back at me. Sometimes being famous has its perks. I walk by all the people who seem important and all the people who look important but really aren't.

I walk down the halls and I see a room with glazed over glass windows as a wall so you can't see into them. The only thing you can see clearly is the person's feet. I look through the clear glass door to the room and I see Brooke, and her manager editing a sketch that's on an over head projector and Brooke's assistant sitting at the table.

I manage to grab the attention of her assistant, I think her name was Millicent and I point to Brooke.

"Brooke?" I hear her ask. Brooke turns around to look at her, then her vision finds her way to me at the door. She gives Victoria the one minute finger and meets me outside the door.

"hey, what are you doing here?" Brooke asks as she closes the door slightly so it doesn't make a sound.

"I need to talk to you." I say firmly.

"okay well we can talk in my-"

"-about Rachel and Peyton" I add in.

"oh you know what, I actually have a lot of work to do…" she quickly changes her mind. She's about to go back into the large office when I grab her arm to stop her movement.

"Brooke, this is serious. You told them the elites were over?" She looks at me with glassy eyes and we both know that's not what she wanted.

"look, now's not really a great time" she starts. But before I can get a word in the door is pulled open to reveal an older looking woman, Victoria.

"Brooke, we have to work" she says firmly, but then catches a glimpse of me. And I think for a second she recognizes me. "oh, Brooke, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend here?"

"… Victoria this is Haley James, Haley this is my manager/CEO of Clothes Over Bro's, Victoria Davis"

"Davis" I acknowledge as I shake her hand. I almost forgot Brooke's manager was her own mother. "it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Davis"

"thank you, and please, call me Victoria. Are you here to work with Brooke, Haley?" she asks me.

"what's that?"

"an outfit? That is why you're here isn't it?" riiight, she knows absolutely nothing about her own daughter's personal life.

"yes, an outfit!" might as well start lying now. It seems the truth gets me no where. "I was hoping Brooke here could design me a dress for an upcoming awards show. I'm willing to pay top dollar, because we all know Brooke is a fabulous designer"

"well, I'm sure Brooke would be honoured to have such a talented artist wear her line, right Brooke?" Victoria encourages her.

"of course." Brooke answers simply.

"but see I'm sort of under a time restraint and I was just wondering if I could talk to Brooke about the details of the dress" I say to Victoria, by passing Brooke. If Victoria says yes, I'm golden.

I see Victoria look down at her watch then back at Brooke. "I think Brooke has some time right now." Victoria says happily. Score.

"Victoria, I think it would be better to finish what we were doing…" Brooke says through clenched teeth.

"Brooke, we do not want to keep Haley here from her important schedule" Victoria says, also through clenched teeth. I find it kind of weird how they both act almost like I'm not here.

"fine" Brooke finally says.

"great, why don't you two go talk in Brooke's office then" Victoria offers as she goes back into the room with Brooke's assistant, shutting the door behind her. As soon as it's closed Brooke grabs my hand and angrily pulls me towards her office. We get inside and I'm sure if Brooke didn't want to cause a scene, she'd slam the door.

"you had to do it, didn't you?!" she yells at me. Why is she yelling?

"do what?"

"get into _my _business" and by business she means her personal life.

"Brooke, I am apart of your _business_. Now what's this I hear about you and the elites being over?"

"this is exactly why I didn't want to tell you! You'd try to change it all"

"you mean _fix_ it? because Brooke, your relationship with Rachel and Peyton is now a broken friendship. A friendship that is too old to let go over one little fight"

"but it wasn't little! Haley, it was about you and me! They kept me from you for 5 years of my life!"

"I know. And look, I was mad at first, too. But you have to see passed what they did and look into why they did it!"

"to hurt me?"

"they didn't intentionally want to hurt you. They were protecting you!"

"who's side are you on?"

"yours, Brooke. The side of you that wants to be happy and have her friends all at once. The side you dreamt about since high school. Brooke, 5 years ago I asked you what would make you happy. And you told me you wanted to be out, happy with your friends and you wanted me to hold your hand along the way. Well I'm right here! And you _need_ your friends"

"how do you know what _I _need?"

"because I love you, and I know you love them. You love them too much to stop here."

"but what they did was just too painful…" she says almost breaking down in tears.

"Brooke, look at me" I say grabbing her by the sides of her head and forcing her to look at me. "what did you say to them?"

"… I said what they did was _unforgivable_, and that we just couldn't have the same type of friendship we had because they lost my trust. They kept me from happiness, what kind of friends would do that?"

"the kind that only do that to keep you from more pain."

"I'd rather feel pain than be numb forever"

"sweetie, you know I love you, but for your sake will you please fix things with them"

"no" she says calmly, shaking her head from side to side. "I won't"

"you have to"

"no. I don't"

"you and I both know you need them to lean on"

"I don't need them when I have you" she says. And as romantic as that is, I won't always be around.

"fine, you may not need them, but they need you. Not everyone can be as strong as you, Brooke"

"I have to be strong when my friends stab me in the back."

"then be strong, be the bigger person… and talk to them"

"I can't do that" why does she keep saying that word? "they're just going to have to learn to be strong without me"

"Brooke, Rachel's missing…" I hate to say it, but drastic times call for drastic measures. It's probably an exaggeration, but who's _really _willing to take that risk?

"… what?"

**And it's another cliff hanger. So now you all know what happened in the conversation between the elites and what's going on, btw I hope you guys got a kick out of the whole Chris – husband joke thing. I thought it was pretty funny. lol. **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Just to let you guys know, I'm starting this chapter with a flash into the future, and then explaining it through the chapter, just for effects. So I hope you don't get confused or anything. **

_Last Chapter…_

"_Brooke, Rachel's missing"_ _I hate to say it, but drastic times call for drastic measures._

"… _what?"_

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"_You bitch! We told you not to hurt her!" Peyton screams at me as she tackles me to the floor in her and Lucas' living room. Okay, that actually hurt._

"_Peyton, get off her!" Lucas says as he tries to pull his girlfriend off of me. Wow, Peyton is a lot stronger than I remember. All of a sudden I see Rachel jump onto Luke's back and tries to pull him away from Peyton, to help her continue fighting me. I get a hard slap across the face as Peyton continues to wrestle me to a pulp._

_I look up at Brooke who's clutching her cheek with my hand print in it. Yeah, I slapped her. I look to my right to see Nathan standing in the door way with a digital camera and flashes going off every few seconds. Figures he'd take pictures of this._

_So you're probably wondering how we got here… well it all started yesterday when I told Brooke Rachel was missing._

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"what do you mean she's missing?" Brooke asks me.

"I mean she's _missing_. Peyton said she took off after you talked to her about everything and she can't get a hold of her anywhere and her agent doesn't know where she is."

"what do you mean she's missing?" Brooke repeats, this time only with more enthusiasm. What doesn't she understand about missing?

I ignore her repetitiveness and continue with what I was saying. "we think she might be in Tree Hill because there's no where else she would be, but we're not too sure yet."

"where's Peyton?"

"still out looking for Rachel"

"She's back in Tree Hill" she states.

"what makes you say that?"

"Rachel returns to the place where she feels safe, and right now that place is probably Tree Hill"

"Are you sure?" I ask and I see Brooke walk towards the door and open it up just enough to stick her head out.

"Millicent!" she yells and within seconds we see her assistant hustle into the room. "get me three first class tickets on the first flight back to Tree Hill" she says to her. "and you" she says looking at me. "pack a bag for a few days"

"wait, who's the third ticket for?"

"despite the fact I'm not talking to her, Peyton should be included in this"

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We all meet at the airport. Each of us with our sunglasses on avoiding all sorts of press and what not. It's weird how just a pair of sunglasses can hide who you are.

"Haley James!" I hear someone yell behind me. Or not. Peyton, Brooke and I all turn around to see everyone staring back at us, and soon enough running towards us.

"oh my god it's Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer!" we hear another person yell.

"run" Peyton mutters as we all take off in the opposite direction running down the extremely long hall and straight to our gate. We quickly hand our tickets over and we watch as several security guards block the unwanted guests. We walk onto the plane going straight for first class just as Brooke planned. We take our seats all next to each other in the middle row with, me in the middle and the girls on either side of me. That's probably for the best.

Since we've met up Brooke and Peyton haven't said two words to each other. It's small things like that, that start to worry me. It's also small things like that, that show me how much work this is going to take to get them back together. First thing first, get all _3_ of them in the same state.

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As soon as the plane took off I decided to make use of my time. I pulled out my song book and brought the tray down so I could write. Now where was I in this song? Oh right… 'Sometimes crazy's alright'. Yeah I think that'll fit perfectly. I start humming the tune I have in my head and immediately I see a head lean forward at my side. I quickly shut my book and turn to Brooke who's trying to get a peak.

"whatchya doin?" she asks casually.

"working on a song… You weren't trying to get a peak were you?"

"me?" she scoffs. "of course not. But now that you mention it, maybe I could look it over"

"hm, I don't think so"

"and why is that?"

"because the song's about you" I say with a smirk, knowing that's just going to make her want to see it more.

"oh, now I _have_ to see it" she says trying to go for the book.

"maybe you should just let her finish the song" Peyton says with a hint of anger in her voice. And cue Brooke's retaliation in 3…2…1…

"who's going to make me?" she snaps back. Okay, wow, these two are really… I don't even know how to explain it.

"as her manager I _need_ her to finish this song" Peyton says leaning forward to look at Brooke.

"there you go, always looking out for number one" Brooke says, also leaning forward to see Peyton. This can't be good.

"you _know_ I was looking out for you!" Peyton whispers harshly as she points an accusing finger at Brooke.

"no, all I _know_ is what you did wasn't right!" Brooke whispers harshly back. Okay, I better stop this from getting out of hand.

"okay, you two, sit back, and don't talk to each other for the rest of the flight" I say, pushing them both back into their seats.

"fine" they both huff out at the same time. I'm still amazed that two girls so alike can fight like this. Thank god this is a short flight. To pass time by I pull out my song book again and flip open to my current song page. I see both Peyton and Brooke lean forward out of the corners of my eyes. They're both trying to get a peak in my book. I immediately shut my book and fall back into my seat. So much for getting some work done.

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We're out of the airport and finally back home. I have missed this place so much. I haven't been here since last Christmas when I stayed with Lucas and Karen. I've become so close with him and his mom, it's like they're my family. It's now I realize something. I'm back home and I haven't even told Lucas.

"Peyton, does Luke know we're back in town?" I ask her quickly as we hand our luggage to the cab driver and get in the car.

"no" sweet. Can you say surprise visit? "but I was about to call him to let him know"

"no, wait, can we surprise him? I haven't seen my best friend in like a year"

"alright, but remember he has that heart condition. No heart attacks, got it?"

"yeah, yeah"

"where to ladies?" the driver asks us.

"167 Sunshine Boulevard" wait, that's not Karen's address. Oh wait, I forgot Peyton and Luke moved in together.

"aww! You guys live on a street called Sunshine Boulevard?" I ask excitedly. That's just too cute. "do you guys have white picket fence and a golden retriever? Oh no wait, you must have the prize winning rose garden and a balcony that overlooks the whole town!" I say thinking of the most stereotypical American dream things I can think of.

"oh, you're so funny" she says sarcastically.

As soon as the car comes to a stop I jump out the door, leaving my luggage behind, and going straight into the house.

"where is he?" I ask out loud, to Peyton.

"try the bedroom" she says and I continue to run into the gorgeous house. I open the door quietly, not even closing it behind me. I quietly run up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible and I feel like a little kid on an Easter egg hunt. I pass by a few rooms, none of which are his bedroom. There's the guest bedroom, office, bathroom, another guest bedroom… wait that's not a guest room. And is that Lucas Scott I see, still lying in bed? Aw look, he's still sleeping. Well let's see what we can do to change that. I creep inside the room and without hesitation I jump on the bed and straight onto him, quickly knocking him awake.

"Haley?!" he asks as she jolts up from the bed.

"Lucas!" I yell happily as I wrap my arms around him, pushing him back into the bed.

"where's Peyton?" I feel offended here.

"I, Haley James, your rock star best friend, am here sitting in your bed after not seeing you for like 10 months and the first thing you ask is 'where's Peyton?'?"

"no…?"

"good, because I might have to hit you if you did do that" I say wrapping my arms around him again. This time I feel him wrap his arms around me back.

"so wait, what are you doing here?"

"Brooke, Peyton and I are in town looking for Rachel because she went missing and we thought this would be the best place to look, because no one else has seen her" I say all in one breath.

"okay…" he says, trying to comprehend it. "….can I ask where Peyton is now?"

"ugh, fine, she's down stairs" I say sliding to the side and getting off of him.

"thank you" he says with a smile as he kisses my forehead and heads down stairs to see Peyton. I swear if they weren't so in love I'd be pretty angry right now.

I exit the bedroom and look over the railing to see Lucas and Peyton hug each other and kiss. Can you say ew? The pull back and Peyton spots me at the top of the stairs.

"hey, Brooke's lugging in your crap, so you might want to go help" she says pointing to the door. I bet she just wants some alone time with Lucas. I head down the stairs and out the door to see Brooke rolling two suit cases in, and struggling at that.

"aw, thank you" I say giving her a kiss on the cheek and grabbing my suit case from her hand.

"sure thing" she says as we both enter the house to see Lucas and Peyton, in fact making out.

"alright you two, no PDA in front of us" I say breaking them apart.

"yeah, don't make us upstage you two" Brooke says wrapping one arm around my waist.

"alright, alright" Lucas agrees. "so I guess it looks like we have two more guests to add to the list"

"what do you mean list?" Peyton asks.

"didn't I tell you? Nathan's coming into town for a few days"

"Nathan?!" I yell excitedly. "I haven't seen that guy in forever!" wow, total Tree Hill reunion!

"yeah, well professional basketball players tend to get busy"

"so do rock stars, fashion designers, novelists and music producers, but here we all are" I point out, making everyone laugh out loud.

"oh, how I've missed you" Lucas says wrapping an arm around me and pulling me towards the kitchen.

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"okay, so explain to me again why we're going to Charlotte?" Lucas asks. We're all piled into Peyton's car with Lucas in front and Brooke and I in the back.

"We're going down to Charlotte because Rachel's house was empty" Peyton starts.

"and Rachel's son, Alex, still lives down in Charlotte with his parents" I say.

"so, we're thinking Rachel went down there to visit him and get away from everyone else, but we're not sure. So we're going down to see" Brooke concludes.

"okay… and why did Rachel run away?" ooh, he doesn't know. Well I'm not telling him. The car goes silent because none of us want to say anything. I see Luke turn around to look at all of us as if none of us heard the question. "… alright, what happened?"

"fine… I'll tell him" Brooke says, with a hint of anger in her voice. "Peyton and Rachel decided it would be 'best' to tell Haley to stay away from me so I wouldn't be happy"

"we didn't mean for you to be unhappy!" Peyton counters from the driver's seat. "we just didn't want you to get hurt!"

"by keeping the person I love, away from me?! I'm no genius or anything, but I'm pretty sure something's screwed up in your logic!" Brooke yells as she leans forward to get closer to Peyton.

"we were trying to keep you from getting hurt again!" Peyton yells back.

Brooke is about to yell something back, again, when Lucas cuts in. "okay, wow! I didn't think a simple question would spark a huge fight like that"

"try sitting through an entire flight with them" I mutter quietly and I see Brooke and Peyton glare at me. Maybe it wasn't as quiet as I thought. "so how old is Alex now?" I ask in hope of a quick subject change.

"6 I think" Brooke answers.

"wow, can you believe it's been 6 years since he was born? 7, almost since Rachel was pregnant" Peyton comments as her gaze falls directly onto the road.

"we probably won't even notice him. I mean, last time we saw him he was just a little baby. Now he's 6. He's already in school" Brooke says.

"God I hope Rachel is there. Because once I get there I'm going to want to see that kid. And if she's not there it's going to be kind of weird."

"yeah, speaking of weird, isn't it kind of odd that Alex's adoptive parents would let Rachel and all of you see Alex all the time?" I ask.

"you'd think so. But in high school the parents understood that Rachel might still have an attachment to her own son. But as time went on Rachel visited less and less, and now it's only like once a year that she sees him" Peyton says.

"the parents wanted their son to know their biological mother" Brooke adds. Makes sense I guess.

"okay, I know this is a little off topic, but how did four of the most powerful women in New York manage to get away from work for a few days to come back to Tree Hill?" Lucas asks randomly. And he's right about the powerful women part. All four of us were featured in People magazine in the top 100 most powerful women in New York. Brooke being the most powerful of the four of us.

"I brought my work with me" I say holding up my song book.

"hey, me too!" Peyton says jokingly as she looks back to me through the rear view mirror. Everyone else starts laughing.

"Brooke?"

"told Victoria I was working on Haley James' special dress for her award show and needed a few days" Brooke tells us all.

"What about you Luke?" I ask.

"oh, I'm a writer, I can bring my work with me" he says pulling out his lap top.

"I hear that" I say giving him a quick high five. We are so coordinated.

**So I know that was kind of an odd way to end a chapter; totally not my style. But I'm hoping to have the next chapter up soon. I know it usually takes me forever to post and trust me, I hate myself for it. But I'm working on my a couple of new Spashley stories for SON which should be out soon. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Hey everybody, well it's a pretty shitty day where i am, all rain and clouds. So i figured i'd at least make someone happy by posting another chapter. Enjoy**

We arrive in Charlotte a few hours later, my song still unfinished – but so close. Peyton pulls into a small quaint house on the corner of some random street. I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention. We get out of the car and follow Peyton up the drive way.

"Rachel's car" she nods towards the same black Denali she had in high school. It really is a nice car. We head up to the house, all 4 of us and Peyton knocks on the door. Within seconds we see a couple, not that much older than us answer the door.

"hi Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs" Peyton says nicely. "I don't know if you remember me but I'm-"

"-Peyton" the woman says with a small smile. "of course we remember you. We didn't know everyone was coming into town to see Alex" she says as she looks passed Peyton to see Brooke.

"yeah, uh, we were just wondering if we could talk to Rachel?"

"sure, of course, come on in" the husband says. They stand out of the way as all four of us enter their house. Peyton and Brooke follow Mrs. Jacob's guidance up the stairs as Lucas and I remain on the main floor with Mr. Jacobs. God, I hope Brooke, Rachel and Peyton don't all start yelling at each other. I grab his hand and he holds mine in his as he knows just as well as I do, this moment could determine a lot.

"can I get either of you two a drink or a snack?" he asks awkwardly.

"no thank you" we both reply softly. We all take a seat in the living room and it's like everything got that much more awkward.

"… so you two are friends of Rachel's?" he asks, in hopes of creating a flowing conversation.

"sort of…" Lucas replies.

"are you friends with Peyton and Brooke then?" how do we answer that.

"sort of" I reply this time. Technically we're all more than friends.

"do you at least know them? Or are you just a couple of hitchhikers making your way down to Vegas to get married" wait, he thinks we're a couple? Lucas and I quickly detach hands and spread apart a little.

"oh, no we're not a couple" Lucas says pointing to us. "no, I'm Peyton's boyfriend" he clarifies.

"and I'm Brooke's… I'm with Brooke" I finally say. Note to self, have conversation about Brooke about where we stand in our relationship.

"oh" he nods, though he probably doesn't understand. After a few more awkward minutes we finally see Mrs. Jacobs come down the stairs with a little boy, probably Alex, holding her hand. Aw he looks so cute. He's just a little guy with brown-red-ish hair. He looks a lot like Rachel.

"um, Rachel and her friends started discussing some… things, that weren't exactly appropriate for Alex's ears" she says awkwardly. It just seems this whole day is full of awkwardness.

I look over at Lucas and he looks over at me. "we'll go talk to them" we say together and get up from the couch. We walk out of the small room and up the stairs. It's kind of hard to get lost in a house this small. Actually, I think my apartment is bigger than this whole place. Luke and I walk up the stairs and follow the increasingly loud bickering. We walk to the end of the hall and find ourselves in a child's room with three very angry girls.

"how many times do we have to tell you? We're _sorry_!" Rachel yells at Brooke.

"well, sorry's just not good enough!" she yells back.

"hey!" I yell catching everyone's attention. "you guys have to stop yelling, this isn't even your home" I tell them and they all turn back to each other.

"what ever. Come on Haley, we're leaving" Brooke says stealing Rachel's keys from her back pocket and running down the stairs pulling me behind.

"hey, give me my keys back!" we hear Rachel yell and she runs behind us.

"come on Hales, haul ass!" Brooke tells me as we run out the door and straight to Rachel's Denali. I doubt this is legal.

"Brooke, stop! Maybe we should stay and talk this out" I say just as Rachel, Peyton and Lucas all come bursting out of the house too.

"either get in, or get left behind" she says angrily through clenched teeth. And I don't know why I did it, but I got into that car with her. I know what Brooke is doing is wrong on so many levels, but I can't just turn my back on her like that. The last thing I need is for her to be angry at me again.

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We've been driving for a couple of hours now, we should be home soon, I'm sure Peyton, Rachel and Lucas are all in a car somewhere a few miles behind us. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. I mean, this all means that they can get together in a room and talk it out. Or yell it out, which ever one works best. But it's right about now I realize something. I forgot my bag at the Jacobs' house. My bag along with all my important stuff in it, and my _song book._

"Brooke, give me your phone" I say quickly.

"why?"

"just do it" oh, have I mentioned we haven't said two words to each other since we got in the car? Well we haven't. She reaches behind her seat and hands me her purse. I search through it and find what I'm looking for. Immediately I turn it on and start looking for Luke's number. As soon as I see his name I hit dial.

"Brooke?" he answers the phone. Caller i.d.

"it's Haley, did you happen to pick up my-"

"-bag? Yeah we did" I can finally let out a sigh of relief knowing my bag is safe. "oh and we're fine too, thanks for asking" he says sarcastically.

"sorry, what happened after we left?"

"nothing really, we just packed up and left soon after you. Rachel's with us"

"okay, well we'll meet back at your place, kay?"

"yeah, okay. How's Brooke?" he asks. I look over at the driver of the car and sees she's focused on the road intently, that's how she's been for the passed 2 hours.

"hopefully, remoresful"

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We pull into the Luke and Peyton's driveway, minus Luke and Peyton. Brooke finally puts the car in park and takes the keys out of the ignition, but neither of us gets out of the car.

"what are you doing Brooke?" I ask softly.

"nothing"

"no, I mean, what are you_ doing_? You go as far as stealing Rachel's car to avoid her, only to come back to Peyton's place where you know she's going to come back too?"

"guess I didn't really think it through too well"

"what's it going to take for you to solve everything? Do you need the help of Taylor? Because I could totally make a call"

"things don't need fixing, they've been fixed"

"I don't think I would call cutting off your friends, _fixing_ things…"

"I would…"

"Brooke, can you honestly say that since you've ended the elites you feel better?"

"yes…" she states softly. "because I got something that I've always wanted."

"what?" no friends?

"_you_" she says craning her head to look at me with a smile, probably expecting a smile back. But I don't give her that satisfaction. I keep a straight face. Actually, if anything it's more of a disappointed look. As soon as she sees my expression she turns forward again.

"please Brooke… change something. I can't stand to see you or Rachel, or Peyton like this"

"it's not that easy, Hales" she says in all seriousness. "how do you forgive someone that put you through so much pain? How do you learn to trust again? How do you just erase everything that's happened and get on with your life?" she asks hypothetically.

"I don't know, but I _do_ know it's possible"

"how?" she asks, like she knows there is no answer good enough.

"…because you were able to do it for me"

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Brooke and I have been sitting on Peyton's couch for almost 20 minutes now and finally in walk three familiar faces. Lucas, Rachel and Peyton. Brooke and I both stand up in anticipation of their arrival and it's like everything goes silent. Lucas and I look at each other and give the signal to get lost. I look at Brooke who also catches it and I can tell by the look in her eyes she's scared. But she's strong, and I know she'll be just fine. I give her hand a little squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. I walk out of the room with Lucas, leaving Peyton, Rachel and Brooke all alone.

Hopefully they won't kill each other.

Before they talking can even start Lucas and I head outside for a walk. Going no where in particular. But thankfully he remembered to bring my bag back and hands it to me,

"do you think it was safe to leave them alone like that?" I ask Luke.

"probably not, but there's nothing all that valuable in the living room anyways" he says with a smirk.

"so when's Nate coming home?"

"shouldn't be too long now" he says looking down at his watch. "in the mean time I was thinking that maybe we could… get some coffee?" he says hinting towards something. And I think I know what it is. Can you say surprise visit number 2?

We walk down a few familiar streets and straight to Karen's Café. It feels good to be home. The ring of the bell above the door goes up and there's Karen serving a customer by topping of their coffee cup.

"now, what's a girl got to do to get a decent cup of coffee around here?" I ask out loud and I see Karen's head turn in my direction, and immediately drop the pot of coffee. Oops. Karen looks down at the mess she made, but then looking back up at me to see if her eyes are playing a trick on her.

"Haley!" she says lovingly as she forgets the mess for a second and comes over to give me a hug. I wrap my arms around her as she wraps hers around mine. Man, have I missed her. I see Luke walk passed us and head for the mess.

"Oh Karen, I've missed you so much" I say.

"me too. How have you been? I heard you might be signing with a new label?" oh yes, everyone follows the tabloids, don't they.

"yeah, just some boring business stuff going on. But now that my tour's done I thought I'd come home for a few days"

"good. This town could use some brightening up" she says with her bright smile. "now come on, I want to hear everything about how you've been. I haven't seen you since last Christmas" she says leading me to the counter where Lucas is just finishing cleaning up the glass. We take a seat at the counter and let Lucas take over for a while.

"so what are you doing home?"

"like I said, my tour's over and I just wanted to come home"

"okay… so what are you _really_ doing home?" she knows me so well.

"… it's kind of a long story"

"Well I've got time"

"… I'm back with Brooke" I start and I immediately see her face light up.

"no!" she says disbelievingly.

"yeah" I nod. "but Brooke and her friends had a small falling out and we just came back to try and solve things"

"Brooke, Rachel and Peyton are having problems?"

"kind of…"

"but they're the _elites_. They've always been friends" she says teasingly. She never took the elites as serious as everyone else. But she did take their friendship serious. Everyone knew they were had the strongest relationship.

"yeah, well they're just having a few problems right now… but I think they're working it out. If not I've got a plan"

"well if anyone can settle things with the elites, it's you" yeah, let's just hope I won't have to. Now, enough of this depressing conversation.

"so did you hear Nathan's coming into town?" I ask excitedly.

"I did, in fact. And we're all coming over to my place for dinner. Why don't you and everybody join us? We'll make a whole night of it"

"well I know Brooke and I would love to, but I think we need to settle things first"

"alright, well when you figure things out give me a call"

"alright, sounds good. Thanks Karen. You're always looking out for us"

"some one has to" she says pushing my hair behind my ears like I'm a little kid. Karen was and will always be like a mother to us.

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After spending another couple hours with Karen, Lucas and I finally decided it was time to leave. Apparently Nathan would be home any time now. So we said our good byes and decided to walk back home. Best part about Tree Hill: you can walk anywhere.

"so, you ready to do this best friend?" I ask as we approach his house.

"I'm ready if you are" he says and he opens the front door. Immediately we hear yelling and I know this is already a bad start. Luke and I follow the loud voice into the den where we see all three girls standing up and yelling at each other incoherently. Seriously, I can't understand a word coming out of their mouths.

"hey, hey, hey!" Lucas says, but the girls continue with their incessant bickering.

"stop!" I yell loudly and quickly the girl's voices cease. I smirk at Luke, then turn back to the former elites. "have you guys gotten _anything_ done in the last 2 hours?"

"no!" they all say at the same time.

"Peyton and Rachel are still bitches" Brooke says.

"we were protecting you!" Peyton and Rachel say at the same time. They must have said that a lot of times to say it in sync now.

"well-" Brooke starts, but I cut her off.

"-Brooke? Can I talk to you?" I ask and nod towards the door. She takes a second to glare at Rachel and Peyton and finally follows me out. We closet the door a little bit, but still enough so that Peyton and Rachel could see us if they really wanted to. "what happened? I thought you were going to try and work it out?"

"I did… but then they started talking, and I started getting angry, then they started getting angry, and before we knew it 2 hours had passed by." She explains to me.

"all I asked was for you to work things out and you can't even do that?"

"I tried Haley, I really did. But it's different than with you think. You had 5 years to take in everything. This all just happened like last week!"

"Brooke, you spent 5 years trying to get over me. Do you really want to spend another 5 trying to get over them?"

"…no"

"good, then will you go back in there and fix things?"

"but they don't want to fix things!"

"Brooke, I bet they want to fix things more than you do!" I argue with her.

"well they act like they don't care!" she says, starting to raise her voice a little bit. Alright, I guess this is where plan B comes in. I really didn't want to have to resort to this, but it looks like I'm going to have to.

"you really think they don't care about you?!"

"yes!" I glance over through the crack of the door and see Peyton and Rachel stealing looks our way. Maybe there is a way I can fix things.

"then I'm sorry"

"sorry for what?" she asks. Here we go.

"for this" I say and raise my open hand and slap her across the face. I hear a couple of gasps come from inside the room and Brooke quickly grabs her face in pain and shock. Immediately the door swings open and an angry Peyton and Rachel come running through it. Peyton immediately tackles me to the floor with Rachel right behind her. I never really expected to get thrown to the floor. A slap – maybe, tackle – no way.

"You bitch! We told you not to hurt her!" Peyton screams at me.

"Peyton, get off her!" Lucas says as he tries to pull his girlfriend off of me. Wow, Peyton is a lot stronger than I remember. All of a sudden I see Rachel jump onto Luke's back and tries to pull him away from Peyton, to help her continue fighting me. I get a hard slap across the face as Peyton continues to wrestle me to a pulp.

I look up at Brooke who's still clutching her cheek with my hand print in it. All of a sudden the front door to the house swings open and in walks Nathan in his professional looking track suit.

"big baller the hizz-ouse!" he yells like an idiot. He quickly freezes as he realizes the situation.

"Nathan, a little help?" Lucas asks as he's being choked by Rachel and I'm being attacked by Peyton. Nathan doesn't even answer. He just looks at us with a huge smile on his face like it's Christmas morning and pulls out his cell phone to take pictures. God, what a pig.

After finally getting enough photographs he tears Rachel off of Lucas, who then falls to the floor in exhaustion and then peels Peyton off of me and sets her beside Rachel. I lay down beside Luke, also in exhaustion and take in the moment. I've come to the conclusion that Peyton was a heavyweight boxing champion in a previous life, either that or she was a hobo who fought for money.

"so what did I miss?" Nathan asks casually as if nothing happened in the first place.

"we told you! We told you not to hurt her! That was the only thing you had to do!" Peyton yells accusingly at me.

"even if we aren't around all we asked was for you to take care of her. It's really not that hard! And what do you do?! You slap her, and in front of us too! Are you really that dumb?" Rachel yells at me too. I push myself up off the floor into a standing position and look at Brooke, who's just standing against the wall, taking everything in.

"do you get it now?" I ask her. "they never _stop_ caring for you…"

I see Brooke's eyes flicker passed me to the eyes of her friends. She does her best to hold back the small tears in her eyes and gives a really small nod.

"…uh, can we get a minute?" Brooke asks, trying to control her emotions. I nod and Nathan and I walk out of the room. But then we realize Lucas is still there. We go back into the room, and each offer a hand to help him up and finally walk out of the room.

I think things are going to be better from here on out.

**So another chapter down, now you know why the fight was started and everything. So yeah, now that one of the main plot points of my story is done, it means a new one is starting over the course of the next several chapters. Do I hear wedding bells in the future?**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"hey everybody" Karen yells as she welcomes us into her house. Looks like she pulled out the works as she leads us to the dining room. All 6 of us.

So it turns out Brooke discovered how much her friends truly care for her and it only took a slap in the face from me. Have you ever realized that the only way to get the elites back together is to fight? I find that odd, but then again, they're an odd group of friends. Sometimes they just seem so opposite but in reality they couldn't be more alike.

"so it looks like everything turned out okay" Karen says to me.

"yeah it does" I say back with a smile. We all take a seat. Karen at the head of the table. Lucas and Peyton beside each other on one side, with Rachel beside them, and Brooke and I on the other side, with Nathan beside us.

"Karen, this food looks amazing" Peyton compliments her.

"thanks Peyton. It's been a while since I've cooked for 7 but it was fun"

After dinner, Karen refused to let us help clean up saying that we were all guests at dinner that night. She really does work too hard. But once we finally gave up on trying to help Lucas suggested we go down to the river court. Now I know Brooke and I may not have spent too much time here, but Lucas and I sure have. He'd always come down here to play basketball or work out, and I'd just come down here to be with him or maybe listen to music, or even write some music. It was always a great place to go for a quiet and serene environment.

Maybe it will help me get out of this funk. And yes, I did just say funk. Because that's what it is. I'm so close to finishing this song and all I need is one simple line to complete it.

As we pull up to the run down basket ball court everyone gets out and Peyton, Rachel, Lucas and Nathan all head for the pavement as Brooke and I slowly take our time over to the benches at the side. We were never much for playing the game. She grabs my hand and we take a seat and just watch our friends have fun.

"so what exactly did you guys say when Luke, Nate and I all left the room after the fight?" I ask.

"nothing much. It was just a lot of tears, apologies and forgiveness going round." She replies simply.

"well, I'm jut glad you worked everything out. Now we can go back to being you and me again. With everyone else supporting us on the side."

"ooh, does that mean we can go back to having sex?" she asks slyly.

"Brooke, we never stopped having sex" I comment quietly.

"oh… right" she laughs a little. "but now we can do it even more! In the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening and all night long" what does she think I am? A sex toy that runs on batteries?

"what's with you and having sex all the time? I mean, in the middle of the night? Come on can't a girl sleep"

"who needs sleep when you have sex?"

"are you implying that you have sex with someone else while I sleep?" I ask teasingly.

"come on Hales… only you baby, keep me up at night" she says sweetly. "and by all night I mean _all_ night" she says with a smirk. Wait hold on…

"Brooke, what did you just say?" I ask trying to pick something out.

"we can have sex_ all _night…?" she says questioning even her own words.

"no before that"

"only you keep me up at night…?" she says more sure of herself this time.

"no… you said 'only you_ baby_, keep me up at night' " I correct her. And that's what I was looking for. That'll fit! It's perfect!

"same thing" she shrugs.

"Brooke you are a genius!" I yell loudly and give her a kiss on the forehead.

"I know! But why exactly?" she asks. Without answering her I run back to the car and grab my bag from the back seat. I quickly take out my song book and see if the words will fit. _Only you baby, keep me up at night_. It's perfect.

"hey boss?" AKA Peyton.

"yeah?" she asks as she attempts to toss the basketball into the net granny style.

"you got a guitar back at your place?"

"yeah, why?"

"Brooke, grab her keys. You guys don't mind getting a ride home from Rachel do you?" I ask as I see Brooke sneak into Peyton's pocket and steal her keys away. As soon as she gets them she starts running towards me without Peyton even noticing she's missing her keys.

"wait, what?" Peyton asks, patting down her pockets. Too late.

"thanks, bye!" I yell as I get into the passenger seat and Brooke gets into the drivers seat. Before Peyton can even chase us down we're out of there.

"so why do we need a guitar?"

"you'll find out in a little while" I say mysteriously. As soon as we get back to the house I head straight up stairs to search through the rooms. I doubt it's in the bedroom, unless Lucas serenades her every night. I go down to explore the other rooms to find an office of some sort. Looks like they share it. And inside, lo and behold is an acoustic guitar. Jackpot!

I get up and shut the door to the office as I take a seat on the wooden chair, making space for me and this guitar. I think Brooke got the hint at what I was doing and left me alone.

After an hour alone I think I got the song done. And all thanks to Brooke's line. Just as I'm finishing rehearsing it one last time to see if it works, I strum the last note and all of a sudden I see a flash go off. I look towards the door to see Brooke holding up a digital camera and taking a picture.

"sorry, couldn't resist" Brooke says with her oh so cute smile.

"it's alright, I was just finishing anyways"

"so you finished your song?" she asks excitedly.

"I did, and it was because of you"

"oh, well then maybe do you think I could… hear it?" she asks with a smirk.

"I think that can be arranged" I say. She takes a seat on a chair off to the side and I face her with my guitar. Who better to play my song for first than the girl who inspired it?

_I've been behind on the events of the past 7 days  
I've been sleeping in my bed  
And missing you like sometimes crazy girls do  
_

…I came up with that line while on tour. There were a lot of long nights without her. God I love her.

_  
I've been hanging like a child onto this photograph of us  
It was taken on a bus across town the last time I saw you _

…Of course, how can I forget our matching pictures of us on the bus, it just further enhances my addiction.__

And now this whole world is going 'round  
But it's when you're gone it really brings me down, down

Well I can't get my self together I'm soaking in the pain  
It's ridiculous how easy it is to go astray  
When my focus ain't right  
Sometimes crazy's all right

And now this whole world is going 'round  
But it's when you're gone it really brings me down, oh 

…And how true is that? I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like without her anymore.__

Oh, will you wait till I get back home again  
'Cause I'm willing to give this another chance  
Only you baby keep me up at night  
Sometimes crazy's all right

Well I never thought I'd say I was in love with you again  
It's funny how my life has come around to this  
And I'm crazy for you  
I do like crazy girls do 

… Even after 5 years we've stuck it out. I love how my life turned out. I wouldn't have it any other way.__

And now this whole world is going 'round  
But it's when you're gone it really brings me down…

Oh, will you wait till I get back home again  
'Cause I'm willing to give this another chance  
Only you baby keep me up at night  
Sometimes crazy's all right, crazy's all right

I look up at Brooke, just as I finish playing the final notes and all I can see is a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

"… you wrote that for me?"

"did you like it?"

"Haley, it was amazing" she whispers.

"really?" I ask, and she simply nods. "good, because your opinion is the only one I care about" I say shyly and look away. I see Brooke stand up and bend over slightly to kiss me as I still sit here in my seat. With my eyes still shut I feel Brooke take the guitar out of my hand and put it down on the table next to us. She pulls me up and pushes me towards the door. As my lips are still attached to hers she and I make our way down to our guest bedroom we're staying in. I think I can tell where this is heading…

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We awake the next morning, still naked underneath the sheets. I didn't really expect us to fall asleep afterwards, but who are we kidding. We tired each other out. I look over to my left to see Brooke's eyes barely open, but staring back at me.

"morning" I whisper.

"morning" she whispers back, giving me a kiss on the temple.

"what time is it?" I ask. I see Brooke reach over to the table for her phone and she presses a button.

"almost 7:00am" she says dreamily. The way the sun is right now and in the blissful morning with the after-sex feeling… it's like it's all perfect.

Underneath the covers I feel a pair of underwear and I see my shirt on the floor. I take this time to fidget under the sheets and get changed without even leaving the bed.

"what are you doing?" Brooke asks as she sees me roll and move around on the bed.

"I'm putting my clothes on. I'm cold" I explain.

"well, you could have said something. I would have been _more_ than willing to help warm you up" she says slyly, I guess she wasn't kidding about that sex all the time thing. I feel a hand go up my leg and it doesn't take a genius to figure out where this is going. I take her hand and put it back on her body and toss her clothes at her to change too. As soon as I see Brooke comfortable back in her clothes there's a small knock at the door, immediately followed by two girls entering the room. It's a good thing we put some clothes on.

"well, well, if it isn't Thelma and Louise" Peyton says as she and Rachel saunter over to our bed and crawl in beside us, on top of the sheets. Peyton beside Brooke, and Rachel beside me.

"right, thanks for letting us borrow your car last night. It was kind of important" I say

"it better have been. That car is like my child" she says.

"what did you guys need to get back here so soon for anyways?" Rachel asks slyly.

"not that." I say, knowing she's talking about sex. Though that did happen afterwards. "I finished that song I've been working on last night" I say proudly.

"finally!" Peyton says. "we need to get you back in the recording studio… back in New York"

"aww, but work means I don't get to spend time with Hales" Brooke pouts, and it's too adorable to pass up.

"aw, sweetie" I say sweetly as I lean in to kiss her, not caring about the other two girls in the room.

"aww!" Rachel and Peyton say as they lean over as well and make kissing noises beside our faces.

"you two are so sweet. I think I need an insulin shot" Peyton says.

Before I can say another word we hear a knock at the door and it quickly opens, without any of us even saying anything.

"hey guys, breakfast is rea-" Nathan starts, but stops as soon as he sees what's going on. "oh, well look what we have here" he says with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"yep, and we have the perfect spot for you Nate, right between me and Hales" Brooke says jokingly as she moves over and pats the spot in the middle of us. We all know this is basically his dream. He quickly jumps at the opportunity and gets into the bed in the middle of four hot girls.

"you know, I could get used to this" he says wrapping his arms behind me and Brooke, making the rest of us laugh out loud.

Before we know it, there's a knock at the door and in walks Lucas. "so this is where everyone is. I've been slaving over a hot stove and all of you are lying in bed all buddy-buddy?"

None of us say anything. Instead Peyton pats the little space that is left beside her and Lucas smiles. He walks over to her side and crawls into bed with all of us.

"can this bed handle 6 people?" Brooke asks cautiously.

"god, I hope so" Rachel answers.

"you know… I remember a time where Brooke and I could just be alone and happy with each other. Yeah, that was about 10 minutes ago…?" I guess.

"alright, alright, we get it. We're going" Lucas says and everyone starts to shift around. Within seconds Rachel, Peyton and Lucas are all out the door.

"well, now that we have the bed all to ourselves…" Nathan starts, and immediately Brooke and I shove him out of the bed and out of our room. As soon as the door closes we settle back down into our comfy positions, just laying in silence.

"…I'm hungry" I say.

"yeah, me too" Brooke says and we both get out of bed. So much for being happy in bed.

As soon as we got downstairs we saw Rachel, Peyton and Nathan all sitting eating breakfast and Lucas just putting some more food on 3 more plates. We each grab one and the 6 of us sit down to a nice breakfast. It's weird being all peaceful and everything. Back in high school it was like all drama.

"this is weird" Rachel comments.

"the food?" Luke asks.

"the silence" she answers and we all kind of nod in response. "someone say something"

"okay, well how about we talk about how we have to go back to New York… today" Peyton says looking at me. Aw, I don't want to go back. I miss home.

"today?" I groan and she nods back. "do we have to?"

"yep" she says sadly looking over at her boyfriend. I forgot, Lucas is here. She'd miss him too. Peyton to Lucas is like me to Brooke.

"okay well we're going back with you guys too" Brooke speaks up, referring to her and Rachel. "I need to get back to work, and we need our models down there, we've already started the design of the fall line."

"that was fast. It was like only like last week that you finished your sketches." I say.

"the fashion industry never sleeps. We've got to get the fashion show set up in a week or two"

"great, I come back and see 4 hot girls and now they all have to leave" Nathan huffs.

"hey, why don't you and Lucas come back with us. I mean you guys are more than welcome to stay at my place" I say and I see Nathan's face light up.

"I don't know…" Lucas says.

"come on man" Nathan says hitting him in the shoulder. "New York, with all of our friends. It'd be _perfect_" he says and just the way he says perfect makes me think something's going on.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to go to New York" Lucas gives in. Sweet.

"alright, well I'll go book the flight, everyone else get packed" Peyton says.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**I don't want to give away anything but… expect twist(s). lol**

After a long flight the six of us finally arrive back in New York City. As soon as we're all out of security and grabbing our luggage we all start heading for the gate to get out… but only, we're stopped by a mob of photographers and paparazzi. This is going to be hell. I guess it wasn't smart that all 6 of us were here out in the open.

"this is ridiculous" I say to Peyton as we try to push our way through with the help of security. But it's not exactly easy to see when there's a flash from a camera every half a second.

"Haley! Are you and Peyton dating?" a photographer asks. Are he kidding me? First of all she's so not my type, second of all she's my boss, and of course there's the ever popular, 'I'm already taken' reason.

"no" Peyton and I reply at the same time, probably making it worse.

"how do all of you know each other?" another person asks as we still rush to get outside.

"we went to high school together" Nathan says and sparks more interest in us.

"are any of you dating each other?" another guy asks.

"I think that's enough" Brooke comments and we ignore any other questions. Great, now we have to talk about this when we get home.

As soon as we get outside we hail a couple of cabs for us to take. I'm about to get in a car with Brooke and Nathan when Peyton stops me.

"hold up there, buddy" she says as she grabs my arm and pulls me to the other car. "you're going in this car, with me"

"what? Why? I want to ride with Brooke."

"'cause if you go with Brooke you're going to be late to the studios, and I need to hear your song asap."

"oh come on, just cause we're riding in the same car doesn't mean we're going to run away all day" though that does sound nice.

"nice try, but Brooke and Rachel are going to go back to Brooke's place to get cleaned up then they're going to work. Then Nate and Luke are getting dropped off at your house" Peyton says.

"… well, can I at least say good bye to Brooke?"

"fine" Peyton says reluctantly. I manage to break her grip on my arm and skip back to the car.

"hey babe, your so called best friend is making me go in another car. I'll see you later, right?"

"aw. Alright, why don't you stop by my place later so we can just be alone, kay?"

"or you could just stop by my place" I offer.

"I could… but then we would have Nathan and Lucas witnessing our every kiss"

"hm, good point" I say with a smile. I look around and notice relatively no photographers and quickly lean in for a peck on the lips. "bye Brookie"

"bye tutor-girl" she says with her own little dreamy smile back. I go back to the other cab where I see Peyton, Lucas and Nathan already waiting for me with the door open.

I get into the car silently, knowing they all saw me kiss Brooke goodbye. We start driving towards my apartment, trying to avoid the topic.

"well aren't you two just so cute" Lucas says with a smirk making Peyton start laughing.

"shut up" I say pushing him playfully.

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We've been back in the studio for a few hours now. I showed Peyton my song and she loved it, but for some reason, didn't love it when I was recording it.

"come Haley, I know you can do better than that" Peyton says over the intercom.

"oh come on, I thought that one was pretty good" where's Lucas and Nathan when you need support? Oh yeah, I forgot, they went out to do some guy stuff. What ever that means.

"it was better than last time, but it still sucks" she tells me. All of a sudden I see Chris Keller walk up beside Peyton and press the button on the intercom.

"I think I'd call it 'better than crap'" Chris says with a smile making me smile. We always had this joke when I recorded a song once and he called it crap, I played it again and he called it better than crap. He may be a jack ass, but sometimes he's helpful. That better-than-crap song was one of my top songs.

"hey Chris" I say with a smile as he comes into the sound proof studio with me and gives me a side hug. "what are you doing here?"

"I was recording in the studio down the hall when I was walking by and saw the hot blonde. Do you think I got a chance with that?"

"I can hear you, you know" Peyton says over the speaker system, making Chris and I laugh.

"sorry buddy, she's taken. And don't even try anything"

"that's fine…" he gives in. "but maybe you could hook Chris Keller up with a certain super model friend of yours?"

"stay away from her too" Peyton says through the mic. Chris just throws his hands up in the air for effect.

Before I know it, I have another special visitor to the studio.

"Haley, you got company" Peyton says, forcing me to see who's behind the clear glass with her. I stare for a second and realize it's my sister.

"hey, Tay, come on in" I say waving her in. She enters through the door at the side and gives me a hug too. I'm waiting for her to say something when I see her look up at Chris, and Chris look down at her, then they both look at me. Oh.

"oh, sorry, Taylor, this is Chris Keller, Chris, this is Taylor, my sister"

"ooh, another James" he says in a low tone.

"I, uh, I was on tour with Chris" I tell Taylor.

"ooh, a musician" Taylor matches Chris' tone. Wow, weird.

"so Tay, you here for a reason or are you just trying to pick up slime ball musicians?" I say referring to Chris who just looks at me like I spoiled his game.

"oh right, yeah just wanted to stop by and say hi. So where's Brooke?" she asks knowingly. Oh god, I forgot to tell her.

"right! Sorry. I meant to tell you she and I got back together"

"yeah, way to leave a sister in the dark there. Especially since I_ helped_ you get back together"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. But she's not here, she's at work."

"I guess I'll have to see her later then"

"alright, all those who are not currently working for me, please vacate the recording studio, I repeat, please vacate the recording studio" Peyton says like an automated voice.

"alright, well I guess that means you guys. Sorry"

"that's alright, I was leaving anyways. Don't want to waste Chris Keller's time on a person like you, now do we?" Chris says with a smirk. "but _you_ on the other hand" he says looking at Taylor. Oh god.

I see them walk out of the room and I'm about to start up again when I see Nathan and Lucas come back into the studio.

"break time!" I say to Peyton, with a knowing smile. I take my guitar off and put it down on it's stand as the guys come over to talk to me. "hey boys"

"Hey Hales" they greet me at the same time. Some things never change.

"anybody with the last name Scott better get the hell out of there soon" Peyton says. Wow, she's pretty eager to get this song in.

"what's with her?" Nathan asks.

"nothing. I'm just having a little trouble getting the song recorded the way we want it"

"you mean that song about Brooke?" Lucas asks.

"yeah. I don't know what's wrong with me. When I played it for Brooke the first time it was like it was perfect."

"I think I've got an idea. Hold on" Lucas says as he pulls Nathan to the other room with Peyton in it. I see them talking through the glass and Lucas trying to explain everything. After a lot of hand gestures and head shakes Peyton finally gives in and Lucas walks back into the room, leaving Nathan with Peyton.

He takes his cell phone out and starts dialling a number.

"so what's this plan of yours?" I ask. Before he answers me he turns his phone on speaker phone and holds it for us to hear.

"Brooke Davis' phone, Millicent speaking" Brooke's assistant answers.

"can we talk to Brooke please?" Lucas asks.

"I'm sorry, but she's pretty busy at the moment"

"tell her it's Haley calling" I say grabbing Luke's wrist and bring it closer to my mouth to speak. After some rustling goes on and some mumbling we finally hear Brooke pick up.

"hey babe" she answers casually. She usually answers to me unless she's in a meeting.

"hey sweetie" Lucas answers teasingly before I can say hi. He's just jealous I can get a hold of her and he can't.

"Lucas?"

"yeah, hey, I'm here with Haley in the recording studio, but she seems to have a little problem"

"well, if it's a physical problem you're going to have to wait until I get home later, baby" she says slyly.

"not that" I answer quickly. "I'm just… struggling a little with the right sound of the song" I say into the phone.

"so I was thinking maybe Haley could sing to you, Brooke" Luke says with a smirk.

"alright Hales, let's hear it." She says. Lucas smiles at me as he puts the phone down on the stand in front of me and exits the room to where Peyton and Nathan are. I see the recording light switch on and I know I'm ready.

"okay…" I say softly before I start singing my song.

We do a whole run through of the song and I sing along thinking only of Brooke the entire time. I think about how she's listening in to me right now, and thinking how if she were here she would just be smiling at me the whole way through. I finish my song with a single strum of the chords and there's silence for a moment.

"perfect" Peyton says over the intercom. But I don't care what she thinks. No offence to her.

"and?" I ask, picking up the phone.

"it takes my breath away every time" Brooke says as I see Luke walk through the door again.

"thanks Brooke. It means a lot to me" I say to her. "and you too Luke, thanks" I say giving him a slight hug.

"no problem" he replies as I hand his phone back over. "we'll talk to you later Brooke, thanks for the help"

"any time. Bye" she says and hangs up.

"so now that the song's down… mind if I talk to your client/my best friend?" he asks as he looks over at Peyton.

"20 minutes. Then you're back here" If anyone can get me away from work, it's Lucas. He's sleeping with my boss. Shh. I jump excitedly and we head out the door.

"what about Nathan?"

"he's busy with Peyton" he says and before we can leave we hear Nathan over the intercom.

"clean up in aisle 3" he says jokingly and Lucas and I laugh. That boy is still a little kid at heart. Finally, we head outside and out in the beautiful sunlight. I wonder what this is all about.

We walk down the street a little to a small outside café. We take a seat and order up a couple of coffees and just sit and talk.

"so what's this all about?"

"what do you mean?"

"well, you pull me out of work just so we can talk so I know something's up."

"okay, there's a reason why Nathan's in town with us for a while." I knew it. "and well I was going to do it back in Tree Hill, but the elites were having problems, then before we knew it we had to come to New York for work."

"wait, I'm confused"

"well-"

"-oh my god, you're Haley James!" I hear a girl yell. All of a sudden I see two teenaged girls come over to me with a napkin and pen in hand.

"can we have your autograph?" the other girl asks. I look at Lucas and tell him 'sorry' with my eyes as I smile back at the girls.

"sure" I say and I give them a couple autographs. As soon as they leave I turn back to Lucas to see him still waiting for me to come back. "sorry"

"it's no problem. Actually I'm proud of you for making it this far"

"yeah, yeah let's get on with the reason you're here, before you make me cry"

"okay, so where was I? right, you guys had to come back here for work, but I kind of wanted everyone to be around for it"

"around for what?" I ask and I see Lucas reach into his pocket for something. He pulls out a black velvet ring box and opens it up.

"oh my god" I gasp as I look at the gorgeous ring inside.

"I'm going to ask Peyton to marry me"

"oh Luke!" I yell as I take the box from his hand to get a closer look. "I'm so happy for you" I say getting up to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "wow" I breathe out as we look down at the box.

"what do you think?" he asks.

"I think you're going to marry the girl that you love. Congrats"

"thank you. But she hasn't said yes yet"

"she will" I say with full confidence. "so when are you going to do it?"

"tonight. When we all go out for dinner. So try not to be all cutesy with Brooke. You guys can be the it couple every other night, just not tonight" speaking of Brooke…

"oh! Can I tell Brooke?! Please!" I beg.

"I don't know…" he says reluctantly.

"please Luke, I need to tell her"

"but then that means we have to tell Rachel"

"they're really good at keeping secrets, don't worry!" I say.

He lets out a heavy sigh and looks at the box, then back at me. "alright, but they better not let it slip or it's going to be on your conscience."

"I think I'm okay with that"

After we finished our coffees we left a few dollars on the table and started walking back to the studios.

"I'm proud of you too Luke" I say as I link my arm with his. "I'm glad your life has turned out for the better"

"me too"

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Later that night, before dinner we all told everyone to meet at my place a little early, so that Nathan and I could tell Rachel and Brooke about the plans, while Lucas goes to pick up Peyton. We told them we would meet them there.

Nathan was just putting on a casual suit while I was fixing my make up and putting on my dress when we heard a knock at the door.

"it's open" I yell, and I soon I see Rachel and Brooke walk in, in their own nice dresses.

"hello?" I hear Brooke's voice.

"hey, come on in" I say poking my head out of my room, as I try to put my earrings on.

"so tell me why we had to get so dressed up?" Brooke asks as she an Rachel walk into my room and takes a seat on my bed, waiting for me to get ready.

"okay, so Lucas came by the studio today and we went out for some coffee on my break…"

"…and?" Rachel urges me to continue.

"…okay well you can't tell Peyton or anything… but he's going to propose to her tonight!"

"oh my god!" they both yell at the same time.

"no wonder he came to New York!" Rachel says.

"this is huge!" Brooke says, standing up. "I can't believe our little Peyton is going to get married!"

"oh yeah, and we're on strict orders not to be all cute and romantic tonight. Apparently, _they're _the 'it' couple tonight" I say.

"what? We're not _that_ cute and romantic" Brooke says.

"actually you kind of are. Sometimes I feel like we're on the L word or something" Rachel butts in.

"uh, guys, I think you need to see this" Nathan says from the living room. We all give each other a puzzled look before exiting the room to see Nathan standing a few feet away from the TV. He's watching one of those celebrity gossip shows, like E! or something.

"and the latest news is Haley James was proposed to earlier today by long time friend Lucas Scott, a novelist out of small town Tree Hill." The show pauses for a second to show clips of Lucas and I at coffee, him with the velvet box in his hands, me with my face lighting up, me jumping up to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek, and of course us leaving together – arm in arm. Yeah, okay that does look pretty bad. "We knew something was up with Haley, but we didn't think it was _that_ serious. Well congrats Haley, you snagged yourself a fine man. Coming up next, see what Britney did this time…" I turn the TV off then look back at the 3 people in the room, staring back at me.

"okay, this is bad" I say.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Okay, so i thought i'd give you guys another update. I'm trying to get them up so people don't lose interest. So here's another chapter. enjoy.  
**

"okay, this is bad" I say. "this is really bad. Oh god, do you think Peyton's seen this yet?!"

"I don't know. It's all over the news though. Everyone knew you were dating someone, now they all think it's Lucas, your _fiancé_." Nathan says with a smirk.

"shut up Nathan. You're not helping" Rachel snaps at him. Before anyone else can say anything I hear my cell phone ringing. I quickly glance at the screen and pick it up seeing as it is my best friend.

"oh my god Lucas, did you see it?" I ask.

"yeah"

"what about Peyton? Look I'm really sorry if this ruined the engagement surprise or-"

"-Haley, don't worry, she hasn't seen it. But it's kind of hard keeping her away from all the TVs and radios right now. So do you think we could meet at the restaurant now?"

"yeah, okay, we're on our way" I say and hang up the phone. "alright, we're leaving now" I say and everyone gets up and heads for the door. Brooke hanging back, waiting for me as I grab my purse.

"ready Hales?" Brooke asks, holding a hand out for me to take.

"yeah. And don't forget no cute stuff. I'm sure Luke hates me as it is with possibly blowing his surprise and all"

"understandable" Brooke says as she leans in closer to capture my lips with hers.

"okay, did you just totally disregard what I said?" I ask, as she pulls back slowly.

"no, I just thought if we can't be cute tonight, might as well get it all out now"

"…well save some for later, when we come back" I say slyly as I lead her out the door. Tonight should be fun. As soon as we leave my apartment we walk down and into the elevator, holding hands, to our awaiting friends. As soon as we get to the main floor, just before the doors open, we drop hands and walk out the small metal box as if we're nothing more than friends. I've got to do something about this.

As we're outside getting into a pre-ordered limo we see masses of photographers around us.

"Haley! Going out to celebrate your engagement?" someone asks. Like I would ever marry Lucas. Ew, he and Nathan are like my brothers.

"come on, let's go" Nathan says, letting all of the girls get inside the car first. Driving down to the restaurant we notice several cars following us, all probably full of people wanting to get the million dollar picture… of me and Luke together.

We get out of the car once we're here and rush into the building where the restaurant staff has managed to keep them out. We see Peyton and Lucas already sitting down at a large table.

"hey guys, sorry we're late" I say as I come over to give Lucas a kiss on the cheek and a wave to Peyton.

"yeah, it's crazy out there. I think I'm permanently blinded" Rachel says as she hugs Peyton, then Lucas. And of course Brooke and Nathan come over to say hi too.

"yeah, why's it so busy out there tonight?" Peyton asks and we all just look at each other. How do we explain this one?

"well you know, I guess they say all six of us all dressed up and thought something was going on" Lucas answers.

"right. Tell me again why we had to get all dressed up to come to a fancy restaurant?" what's with this girl and questions, can't she ever just be happy?

"well how often do you have all of your friends out in New York with you?" Nathan asks hypothetically, and we all just agree.

"okay" she answers without a care in the world. We all take our seats in the same order we had at Karen's. Brooke and I beside each other with Nathan to our right, and across the table is Lucas, Peyton and Rachel.

"well here's to a night to remember" Brooke says as she raises her glass and we all follow in suit.

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We finished dinner a while ago, now we're just sitting and talking and kicking back a few drinks. You know, just having fun.

"oh okay, I've got a story" Peyton pipes up. We've been telling old memories, some happy, some funny, some embarrassing. But it's all good. "I remember the very first day Haley came to Tree Hill and Rachel, Brooke and I were all sitting at our table at lunch…"

"oh god" Brooke says as she hides her face behind her hands. "do we have to tell this one?"

"oh, no, _now _we have to tell this one" I say with a smile.

"okay, well this was of course when Brooke liked girls and of course she immediately fell for Haley when she saw her" Peyton continues.

"wait, you fell for me when you first saw me?" I ask. "That is so cute!"

"yeah, yeah, let's just get the story over with" Brooke mutters.

"so here we are at lunch and I guess you guys didn't know it, but we would look over at your table too, and it pretty much took everything Brooke had not to stare at Haley. But we were sitting and Brooke was trying _so_ hard just to get Haley's attention. I swear every 10 seconds she would be flipping her hair trying to make it look like she was in shampoo commercial, all just so Haley would look at her. And every 10 seconds all we would hear is 'is she looking now? How about now?' and it just wouldn't stop" Peyton says making everyone else laugh.

"lucky for Brooke, Haley was in our last period class." Rachel adds. "We were on our way into the class and Brooke saw her and she started getting butterflies. It took us 10 minutes to calm her down and finally get into the class"

"that's why you guys were late? I didn't know that!" I say.

"oh, what about the time we made Lucas and Peyton dress up for Halloween together!" Rachel says and we all start laughing again.

"Bonnie and Clyde. It was appropriate" Brooke smirks.

"you know, I think I want to make a toast" Lucas says as he gets out of his seat and stands up, with a glass of champagne in his hand. I think this is it!

"we've been great friends for a long time now, some of us more than just friends, but still great none the less. And it takes a special kind of relationship to last that long. We've have some good times together, some funny, some sad, but through it all we have always been there for each other. And one person in particular has always been there for me. It all started a few years ago when her car broke down and I was called in to fix it. From there things only got better. From there, my life only got happier. Because there is not one day that I don't think about this girl sitting right here in front of me. And for the rest of my life I don't want to think about anyone else. That's why I want to spend the rest of my life with her." Lucas puts the glass of champagne down on the table and pushes the chair out of the way. We all see Peyton with tears in her eyes as she realizes what Lucas is doing.

He gets down on one knee and pulls the black box out of his pocket and lets it sit atop of his hand. He opens it up to reveal the same ring I saw merely hours ago.

"Peyton Sawyer, I love you more than anything in this world, and I don't want to spend another minute away from you. Will you marry me?"

"…yes! Yes of course I'll marry you" she says through her tears of joy. He smiles and even all us girls have tears in her eyes. Even Nathan, not that he would admit it.

Lucas takes the ring out of the box and places it gently on her ring finger. As soon as it's on Peyton jumps out of her chair to kiss Lucas.

Nathan, Rachel, Brooke and I all take this opportunity to start clapping for the happy couple.

"more champagne!" Lucas yells to one of the waiters who within seconds come back with another bottle of champagne for our celebration.

"to Lucas and Peyton" Nathan says toasting as we all raise our glasses.

"to Lucas and Peyton" we all repeat. We take a small sip and we see Peyton just lean against Luke, with his arms around her. They really are an amazing couple. They're one of those couples who will always be a couple. It's just meant to be.

An hour later, we're still sitting here, just plain getting drunk and being happy. Nathan is busy congratulating Lucas while Rachel is talking to Brooke. So here I am left with Peyton.

"congrats, boss" I say.

"thanks, fiancé stealer" she says with a smirk.

"what?"

"oh come on, I'm not stupid. I may not have heard the radio or seen the TV, but cell phones are an excellent source of news. She says holding up her cell phone, which of course connects to the internet.

"look, sorry it's just… it wasn't actually-"

"-it's okay. I know it was just misinterpreted. Plus, he may have proposed to you first, but he meant my proposal" she says as she smiles at Lucas who smiles back at her. "but don't tell Lucas. I know he was really keen on it being a surprise"

"don't worry, your secret's safe with me" I say back. And in the corner of my eye I see Brooke smile over at me. She gives me a wink and I wink at her back. But it's pretty much right now I have an epiphany type thing. I guess you could even call this a turning point in my life.

"hey Peyt?"

"yeah?"

"look, I want to talk this over with Brooke first, but I'm kind of getting tired of hiding everything…" I say and I know she's caught on to what I was talking about.

"yeah, I kind of figured this would come up soon. You two never did want to keep your relationship a secret"

"so you're okay with it?"

"we need some publicity before your album releases anyways. Might as well do this now. But I'm going to have to talk to Brooke and Victoria about it later." Ha ha sucker. That's going to be a fun conversation.

"does Victoria know about Brooke and girls?"

"I think she's in denial about it" Peyton answers.

"well then she's going to be in for a surprise when she finds out I'm dating her daughter. She thinks she's making a dress for me"

"great" Peyton says sarcastically, knowing that it's not going to be a happy conversation. I look back over at Brooke who keeps stealing glances my way. I know I'm making the right decision by coming out with our relationship.

"so let's see the ring" Rachel says as she and Brooke walk over to us. Rachel grabs Peyton by the hand to get a closer look at it, while Brooke takes a seat on my lap and wraps an arm around my neck.

"have I told you how sexy you look tonight?" I whisper in her ear.

"no" she replies with a small smile.

"well you look _very_ sexy tonight" I whisper in a husky voice. "especially in that very sexy dress of yours"

"mm, well you should see what's under the dress. I'm sure you'll love it even more"

"I'm sure I will. Any chance I'll be able to see what's under that dress tonight?"

"I think there is a very good chance of that tonight"

"alright, who's ready to go home?" Nathan asks, clasping his hands together. I think we're all a little tipsy. But now I realize something.

"wait. I forgot Nathan's staying at my place" I say to Brooke.

"Rachel's at my place tonight" Brooke says to me. We need a plan.

"hey Nate, how would you like to spend the night at my place?" Brooke asks out loud.

"as long as I have a bed" he says.

"great. Nathan and Rachel will stay at my place tonight and we can go to yours"

"sounds good to me" I say and she gets off of my lap. "just give me a minute" I say as I walk out of the room and head in the direction of the bathrooms. Here's a little trick I picked up from when we were dating in high school. You say you're going to the bathroom, but instead, go to pay the bill.

I exit the room and head to the front desk.

"hi, I was just wondering if I could pay for the bill up here?" I ask.

"sure, which table were you?"

"we were the ones in the back room" I say and she nods as she clicks away on the computer.

"okay, you're total comes to 823.17" I guess it hurts the wallet when you want to go out to a fancy restaurant. And when you order 5 bottles of their most expensive champagne.

"okay" I say handing over my credit card. It's a good thing I'm rich now. Just as I'm handing over my credit card I see Luke out of the corner of my eye jogging to where I am. Uh oh, this was kind of supposed to be a surprise.

"wait!" he calls out, but it's too late. She's already swiped my card and handed it back to me. "Haley, don't tell me you paid for the bill"

"yeah, it was no big deal" I brush it off. Really, 800 means nothing to me these days.

"I wish you would have let me pay"

"on your engagement night? No way." I say as the girl behind the counter hands me over a receipt and a pen to sign it with. I give her my signature and head back into the room with Lucas.

"thank you. But I'm going to pay you back for that"

"no you won't. Just think of it as my engagement present to you guys. Just do me a favour and when you go outside announce to everyone you're engaged to Peyton, not me"

"done" he says with a smile. He helps Peyton with her jacket and we all get ready to go. We let the happy couple go first with the 4 of us following. Outside we see the cameras and crowd again and Lucas and Peyton holding hands proudly. Just the way it should be. We all walk passed them and get into our own limo, waiting for them to finish talking to the reporters. Within a few minutes they enter the limo with us and we drive away.

"all taken care of" Lucas says with a smile.

"I still can't believe you two are getting married" Rachel says.

"say hello to the future Mr. and Mrs. Scott" Peyton says proudly as she rests her head on Luke's shoulder.

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After we dropped Lucas and Peyton off at Peyton's apartment, then Nathan and Rachel off at Brooke's apartment we finally get dropped off at my place. By now I think the reporters are gone, and instead are staked outside Peyton's place. So now, Brooke and I are free to be us. We exit the limo, thanking the driver, as we enter the building hand in hand.

We finally enter my apartment and I lock the door behind us. Not that Peyton couldn't break in anyways. As soon as I turn around I see Brooke holding up her phone and I hear the camera take a picture of me in my dress.

"what was that for?"

"just for the books" she smiles as she puts her phone away.

"can you believe Peyton and Lucas are getting married?" I ask as I put my stuff down and pull Brooke over to the couch.

"I know. But I kind of always knew they would. They belong together"

"oh, hey look, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"alright, lay it on me" she says taking her shoes off and getting comfortable.

"well, you know how I hate having to let go of your hand once we're out of the elevator, and having to refrain from kissing you in public, or touching you in anyway"

"mmhmm?"

"well I was thinking, why do have to do that? Why don't we just tell everyone?"

"…are you sure that's what you want?" she asks me.

"Brooke, I'm sure, but I need to make sure you're okay with it. Because you need to think about your business and all, and I wouldn't want to do anything to take that away from you"

"Hales, I told you before, I would put you before my clothes any day."

"what about Victoria?" I ask and I see Brooke freeze for a second and think about it.

"she might have a heart attack, but it's my life" she replies making me laugh a little.

"so we're really going to do this?"

"I think it's about time." She says as she grabs my hand in hers and kisses the back of it.

"I love you Brooke, I really do"

"I know… I love you too Hales" she says leaning in closer to kiss me.

"come on, I'm tired, let's go to bed" I say getting up off the couch and pulling her towards my bedroom. She wraps her arms around me from behind as we make our way into the bedroom. As soon as we enter my room I shut my door, leaving it only open a crack and I turn around to see Brooke slipping out of her dress and into my bed. I follow her actions, not bothering to change into my night clothes, just getting into bed with her – half naked. I lean over her body to turn off the lamp and lay my body next to hers. She wraps an arm around my back as I let my arm fall on her stomach and let my fingers play with her fingers. Everything is silent and peaceful until Brooke speaks up.

"will you marry me?"

**So... how** **many people were expecting that ending? hell, i wasn't even expecting that ending when i wrote it. It just came out. But those are the best kind of stories. When things are just... there.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Hey guys, sorry I took soooo long to update. My computer got a HUGE fucking virus and I'm so pissed. So I thought you waited in suspense long enough… enjoy!**

"will you marry me?" Brooke asks softly. What did she just say?

"what?" I say as I quickly get up from my spot leaning on one arm and looking at her in the dark.

"nothing. Forget it" not possible. I lean over her again and turn the light back on.

"no, what did you just say?" I ask again. Maybe it was an illusion. Or a trick my mind is playing on me.

"I-I… asked if you would marry me" she says looking down at her fingers, which have suddenly become so interesting.

"w-where is… this coming f-from?" I ask getting out of the bed and standing now. I just can't wrap my head around this.

"I don't know. I was just thinking how Peyton and Lucas are engaged and I was just asking myself 'what do they have that we don't? what makes them qualified to get married, and not us?' and I just couldn't come up with an answer"

"how about the fact that we've only been together for a few weeks"

"but we've been in love for five years" Brooke argues back.

"what about how we're not even public yet? We haven't even decided if we're girlfriends or not! And now you're jumping into marriage?" I ask as I go to my closet to grab some clothes.

"what are you doing?"

"I need to go clear my head"

"at 1 o'clock in the morning, in the streets of New York? I don't think so" she says getting out of the bed to stop me.

"Brooke, just because you see our friends getting married doesn't mean we're ready too!"

"why not?"

"just because" I say getting the last of my clothes on. I grab my bag with my stuff in it and head out the bedroom door to the front door.

"wait, don't leave. Come on Haley!"

"no. I just… I can't deal with this right now. You can't just spring this on me like that!"

"I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, why can't we do it?"

I don't give her an answer. Mostly because I can't think of one. But we're not ready for marriage, even I know that. Without saying another word I open the front door leaving Brooke still in my apartment. Instead of waiting for the elevator and having Brooke come stop me again, I decide to take the stairs. I'm only a few floors up anyways. As soon as I exit my building I realize this really wasn't a smart idea.

I hail a cab and tell him the directions. I need to talk to someone. So since my best friends just happen to be in town, who better? Now of course I wouldn't dare interrupt Lucas on his engagement night, so I'll go to Nathan, who just happens to be at Brooke's apartment. I head up the elevator and use my key to get in.

"hello?" I call out, but then I realize Rachel's staying here too.

"Haley?" Nathan asks, exiting one of Brooke's spare rooms in nothing but boxers. That's great. I really wanted to see my best friend half naked.

"hey, sorry to bother you in the middle of the night but I just need someone to ta-"

"-what's going on?" Rachel asks as she comes out of the _same_ room Nathan came out of, only wearing her bra and panties.

"oh… my god" I say. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what they did tonight. "I… I'll… never mind. Sorry for bothering you guys"

"wait, Hales!" Nathan calls out but it's too late I'm already out the door and heading for the elevator. I make it back down to the street only to call another cab.

I don't mind wasting a few dollars for my safety. I pay the driver and get out to go to Taylor's bar. I just need someone else right now. Lucas is with Peyton and now I know Nathan is with Rachel, so that only leaves one person.

I enter the bar and I can tell it's starting to die down a little and thin out. I see there's another bar tender working the counter so I head straight back to the kitchen where I know she is. I enter the bright white room where I see a couple of chefs cooking up some greasy food and Taylor sipping a beer and talking to them at the same time.

"Tay!" I call out. She looks over at the door where I am and walks over.

"Haley? What are you doing here? It like 1:00am."

"I really need to talk to someone"

"okay well come on, we'll grab a booth in the back" she says as she leads us over to the back of the bar where there's only a few people enjoying some beer. "what's going on?"

"Brooke asked me to marry her"

"what?!"

"yeah, Lucas proposed to Peyton and they're getting married, and I don't know what was going on in her head, but she got this idea that we're ready"

"what did you say?"

"I told her I needed to get out and we couldn't get married. I mean, I'm only 22 years old, Taylor!"

"I know, I know. But maybe Brooke thinks you're ready…" is she agreeing with her?

"don't side with Brooke over me" I threaten.

"I'm not. It's just are you sure you're doing what you want?"

"of course I am. Like half an hour ago I just asked Brooke to go public with me, and now she asks me to marry her? I mean, that's got to be crazy right?"

"of course, but maybe a part of you only left because you were afraid that maybe you _are_ ready to get married to Brooke"

"but I'm not"

"Are you sure? You two have still managed to stay in love for 5 years even though you hadn't even spoken to each other. If that's not real love I don't know what is"

"Taylor" I groan. "you're supposed to be the older sister and tell me not to do this because I'm too young"

"sorry, but I was never good at playing the older sister part" she says with a smirk. "Haley the only reason you're here is because you want someone to tell you not to get married, but what are you so afraid of?"

"…I'm afraid that one day, one of us is going to do something stupid and history's going to repeat its self. What if something else happens and we don't speak to each other for another 5 years?"

"then you'll wait 5 years and you'll fall in love all over again"

"I can't do that… it hurt too much the first time. And I could never put Brooke through that again"

"see, you care about her enough not to do that! It means you're not going to hurt her"

"but I can't just marry her!"

"why not?"

"I don't know, I just can't"

"Haley, you and I both know that's not a good enough answer…"

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I stayed at Taylor's bar the whole night, just talking with her. Mostly about Brooke and the proposal. As soon as the first light hit the window I was out of there. I didn't actually realize we had talked the entire night until we saw the sunrise.

I made my way back to my apartment half expecting to see Brooke fast asleep on the couch waiting for me, half expecting her to be gone out looking for me. I unlocked the door from the outside and silently entered the room. I shut the door behind me and turned around to see the five of them all sitting on my couch. As soon as one of them spotted me they all spotted me and stood up.

"Haley!" Lucas says rushing over to hug me. "thank god you're okay! We were worried sick about you"

"we thought someone had kidnapped you" Nathan said as he hugged me as soon as Lucas let go. It's really quite hard to get out of their grips. I mean, just think about it, they're both pretty built, not to mention over six feet tall.

"what's everyone doing here?"

"Brooke called us in the middle of the night saying you took off" Peyton says. I look back to Brooke who hasn't said anything yet. It's obvious she didn't tell them about anything.

"can we talk?" I ask Brooke and she nods as we walk over to my bedroom and shut the door behind us. Before I can say anything Brooke envelops me in a hug, gripping on to me tightly. I can hear her crying on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for you to get all angry and run out." I remember once upon a time Brooke wasn't able to say sorry.

"Brooke we need to talk about this" I say as she pulls back from the hug and we take a seat on the bed. "I want to make this clear Brooke… I can't marry you"

She doesn't look up at me yet, but still focuses on her hands. She gives me a small nod and sniffles a little more.

"I can't marry you, _yet_" I add.

"what?"

"look, Brooke, you know I love you. I love you more than anything in this world and I _do_ want to marry you one day, but it's just too soon for that"

"what's wrong with now?"

"let's see, I haven't met your dad, you haven't even met my other brothers and sisters, not to mention my parents. We're only 22 years old, we're not public, we have two very separate careers to deal with, none of our friends know about _this_…" I could go on forever.

"okay, I get it. But what if I change all that? What if I do everything you just listed, would you marry me?"

"I'd want to make sure we could make our relationship last. The longest relationship we've been able to have is just a few months, and we're talking the rest of our lives here." I say and I can start to see the tears start up in her eyes again. "but yeah, if we could turn all of it around I would marry you. I would marry you in a heart beat. Because I know you're the only one who makes me happy and I know you're the one for me"

"…so that's a someday?"

"yes" I reply softly and I see a small smile appear on her face. The first one in probably 7 hours.

"can I kiss you now?"

"now _that_, you don't even have to ask for" I say leaning in half way to meet her lips.

"but I'm serious about making our relationship stronger" Brooke says pulling back. "I want to meet your family, and I want to make it work out between us."

"are you sure you want to meet all of the James'? I mean sometimes they can be worse than Taylor"

"worse?" now she's scared. She takes a deep breath but smiles at me. "it's worth it."

"alright then. I'll give them a call. They haven't been out to visit me in a few years anyways.

"oh and Hales, can we just not tell everyone about this right away. I kind of want some time to prep"

"sure" I agree. "just please don't spring anything like this on me again"

"I won't" she replies softly. I lean in to kiss her again and we finally get up off the bed. I grab her hand in mine and open the door only to have Rachel and Nathan fall at our feet. They were totally listening.

"I told you guys it wouldn't work" Peyton says as she stands beside Lucas.

"damn, Haley, you need to get some thinner doors. All I could hear was Brooke's sniffling" Rachel says as she gets up and dusts herself off. At least they didn't hear anything. Brooke wipes her eyes again, to get rid of the moisture from the tears and we head into the hall way.

"what happened in there?" Lucas asks.

"nothing" I reply, still holding onto Brooke's hand. "sorry for wasting your time guys"

"well now that, that's over we need to get to work" Peyton says.

"yeah, so do we" Brooke says to Rachel.

"yeah, and now that Luke's engaged I have to get back to practice too." Nathan speaks up.

"and I have a meeting with my editor" Lucas adds.

"well I guess that's it then" I say. And I'm a little sad that my friends have to leave, but that's just the way things are. "come here you two" I say and I pull them both into a hug. These guys have always been like my big brothers. Always looking out for me.

"alright we need you to keep safe now, okay?" Nathan says. "we're not always going to be around to protect you in New York. But if you need us we'll come running"

"thanks guys."

We all say our goodbyes and Lucas and Peyton especially take their time saying good bye, even though they'll probably see each other in a couple of weeks at the most.

"bye Scotts" I yell to them as they head out my door.

"bye James" they yell back together. I love when they do that.

Soon after Nathan and Luke left Brooke and Rachel had to go too.

"I'll see you when you get off work?" I ask as I let my arms hand around her neck and her hands wrap around my waist.

"yeah. Don't forget to make those calls okay?"

"you got it, babe" I say and she leans in to kiss me. But for some reason she makes it a more passionate kiss than usual. I accidentally moan and I know I'm only going to get teased about it later. Brooke smiles into the kiss, our eyes still closed, and mouths still attached, but not wanting to separate.

"alright, I better go" I whisper lightly against her lips.

"one more kiss" she says back.

"oh, hey no" Peyton cuts in. "one more kiss turns out into a make out session and we all know where that leads with you two" she says pushing us apart. We take this time to push Peyton together and go back to our kissing. "Rachel, a little help?" Peyton asks.

"Brooke. Fashion show" Rachel reminds her calmly and I feel Brooke pull back.

"shit, I forgot. Alright, I actually have to go this time, Hales" damn you Rachel.

"okay" I say sadly. "we'll talk later about the arrangements" I say hinting towards my family.

"alright. Bye Haley. Love you" she says, blowing me a kiss from the door.

"love you too!" I yell back as I see Rachel push her out the door.

"…what happened last night?" Peyton asks suspiciously, now that we're alone.

"nothing"

"uh huh. You two talk in the bedroom for 30 minutes and we hear crying and then all of a sudden everything's back to normal? Actually, better than normal. You two say I love you when you leave each other now?"

"we just realized some things last night, and it changes things a little bit."

"and what exactly did you realize?"

"that I love Brooke and she loves me" I clarify.

"well _I_ could have told you that" and she could have. But it's not like we didn't know it before. But now we know it'll last a lot longer than 5 years. "anyways we should get going, we need to go talk to a few other producers and schedule some things"

"okay. Oh and Peyton?"

"yeah?"

"I realized I've been holding on to this for a while now" I say pulling out our contract from my shoulder bag. Signed and everything.

"I guess it's official now" Peyton says examining my signature.

"looks that way. I guess you're stuck with me for another 7 years"

"welcome to Elite Records, Haley James"

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By the end of the day I was beat. We had gone to visit a few people in suits to talk about the future of my record and how we would be releasing it as soon as it was done in a few weeks. But the big thing they wanted to talk about was my press conference, coming up next week.

The big corporate people knew I wanted to talk about who I was dating and gave me this opportunity to talk about my new album and deal with all the media lately. A lot of people still think I'm engaged to Luke for some reason. But now there's only one thing left to do. Talk to Brooke.

Peyton and I decided to talk to Brooke after we had finished running around New York. So here we are just arriving on her floor at Clothes over Bro's. The elevator door opens and like usual a bunch of business people walk by us, going unnoticed. I give a little wave and smile to Jenna, who still lights up like a Christmas tree every time she sees me.

"how did you learn to get by Jenna so easily? It took Rachel and I like a year to let us go in without a call in to Brooke"

"I guess I'm just more famous than Peyton Sawyer" I tease as we head down towards Brooke's office. We see her door closed and we both take the opportunity to knock at her door like fools. You know, the kind of knock that goes on forever and annoys the hell out of people? Yeah, that one.

The door swiftly swings open, only to reveal a very annoyed Davis, but not the kind I'm in love with.

"can we help you?" Victoria asks, eyeing Peyton with a death glare, completely ignoring me.

"hi Mrs. Davis" Peyton says shyly. Aw look, Peyton's afraid. Not to self: tease her about it later.

"hi Victoria" I say a little afraid of how she's going to act.

"Hello Haley" she says a little less mean than when she said hi to Peyton. Technically she didn't even say 'hi' to her.

"Victoria, a moment alone please?" Brooke asks sternly. That's right. _I'm_ dating _her_. Mom would be proud. Victoria looks back at Brooke, then back at us.

"we have business to discuss later. And I want you to come home with me tonight" hey, that sounds a lot like what I was going to say.

"fine" Brooke agrees and Victoria leaves the room. A soon as she's gone, I enter the office, giving Brooke a small kiss, while Peyton closes the door behind her.

"okay, so let me get this straight. Haley has both Jenna _and_ your mom wrapped around her finger?" Peyton asks Brooke as if I'm not even there, oh hey, there's Rachel. I give her a little wave and she waves back.

"I'm just a very likeable person" I say.

"and I'm not?" Peyton asks. Okay, insert joke here. Seriously, she's basically asking to be insulted.

"do you really want her to answer that?" Rachel asks, before I can say anything.

"on second thought, you're right." Peyton says as she takes a seat next to Rachel who's sitting in the chairs in front of Brooke's desk.

"so what do I owe this pleasure?" Brooke asks, bring us back to the real reason why we're here. "oh, no, wait! I totally spaced, I have great news!" she says eagerly.

"well so do we" Peyton says. "we've scheduled a press conference in a couple of weeks and we're giving Haley the opportunity to announce your relationship"

"I've got my fashion show in a couple of weeks too! This is going to be awesome!" Brooke says.

"so when's everything going down exactly?" Rachel asks, for clarification as she pulls out her cell phone to get organized.

"October 2nd" Brooke and I say at the exact same time. Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ Please don't tell me she just said what I think she said. Brooke and I immediately look at each other and Peyton and Rachel go silent.

"uh oh" Rachel says.

**So there it is… going from marriage to new problems lol. Review… if you want. idc.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Brooke and I are still sitting in her office, just me and her. Rachel and Peyton decided to give us some time. Brooke pulled out a seat and so did I so we could sit directly in front of each other.

"we need to figure something out" Brooke states.

"what are we going to do, Brooke?"

"is there any way you could change the press conference?"

"is there any way you could change your fashion show?" I ask back, knowing both answers will be the same thing. "Brooke, the conference is marked down in pen"

"well, my fashion show is in permanent marker, sealed in an envelope and locked away in the cabinet" she exaggerates.

"okay, well maybe they're at different times" I suggest. Oh, god, please tell me they're at different times.

"mine's at 8:00pm when's yours?" crap. I think God hates me.

"eight" I reply sadly.

"in the morning?" she asks hopefully, but I just shake my head in response.

"what are we going to do?" I repeat. "it'd be great if you could be there with me at the conference so we can stop all the rumours in the tabloids, but at the same time I can't make you change your fashion show just to fit my schedule"

"and I know I want you to be there at my fashion show with me to see everything, but I can't make you put your career on hold to be there for me" Brooke says.

"it's obvious we can't be at each other's events. So we need to come to a decision"

Brooke takes a long hard look at me and leans back in her chair. "…looks like we already did"

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We exit the office beside each other to see Peyton and Rachel both reading magazines in the waiting area by the elevators. As soon as they spot us they stand up and put the magazine down.

"Well?" Rachel asks right away. "are we going to the fashion show or a press conference?"

"fashion show" I answer and I see Peyton's face start to freak out. "…but Peyton and I are going to a press conference" I add and we both see Rachel freeze in her spot.

"so…" Rachel tries to phrase a way to say this.

"Brooke's doing the fashion show, I'm doing the press conference, and we won't be able to see each other until the events are done" I say to clear things up.

"well there goes the surprise" Rachel mutters. Or at least I think that's what she muttered. Did she just say surprise? What surprise?

"Rachel" Brooke chides as she pushes Rachel.

"what? It's not like-" Rachel starts but is cut off as Brooke puts a hand over her mouth.

"-go to my office now" Brooke says sternly and pushes Rachel in the direction of her office.

"what was that?" I ask suspiciously. Brooke was never good at keeping secrets.

"nothing. Look I'll call you later, I might not be over at your place or my apartment for a while. I've got to go back to my other place with Victoria to work some things out for the fashion show."

"and Haley has got a few autograph signings coming up in the next few days in promotion for her new album, not to mention a photo shoot. So we also have a lot of work"

"I guess I won't be seeing you too much" I say to Brooke, who looks at me then looks at Peyton. I follow as well and look at Peyton, maybe if we stare hard enough she'll get the message.

"fine, I'll meet you down stairs" Peyton says and walks into the nearest elevator. "I've got to call my fiancé anyways" she says proudly as the doors close. As soon as she's gone Brooke pulls me away from the front area to a secluded hall way.

"call me everyday and promise to see me when ever you can?" I ask as I take a step closer just to feel _closer_ to Brooke. I feel like one of us is going off to war or something.

"as long as you promise to do the same" she whispers back in her husky voice.

"deal" I say as I lean in, but Brooke pulls away before we can even kiss.

"…so did you make those phone calls like I asked?" she asks, teasing me with the very small distance between us.

"not yet…" I say, going in for another kiss, but she pulls back even further.

"why not?" she asks in a serious tone now.

"I don't know, I just haven't gotten around to it yet" I answer.

"Hales, you know how serious I am about meeting your brothers and sisters" she says softly. "I want to make this work between us"

"I know. And it will work. I just haven't had the time to make 4 calls out to people who live no where near us."

"well make time… please."

"do you really think now's the best time to invite them to New York? I mean with everything going on it's going to be kind of hectic."

"I'll make time. And I'll make Peyton make _you_ time" she says smartly.

"okay, I'll see if they can get away from their jobs for a while. I'll call them tonight" I say, trying to steal a kiss from her, but no luck as she voids it.

"promise?" she asks as if I'm a 5 year old.

"I promise! Now will you kiss me already!?" I practically yell, seeing how annoyed I am.

"mm, okay!" she says cheerfully. Damn her and her torturous ways. She finally leans in a gives me a quick peck on the lips. Not what I was going for.

"oh, no way" I say grabbing her head lightly and bringing it down to mine for a more meaningful kiss. After almost a minute of no air we both stop kissing and smile at each other.

"better?" she asks with a cocky smile.

"don't push it" I threaten, teasingly and make my way over to the elevators.

"call them" she says as the doors start closing.

"okay!" I give in once again and just before the doors close I see Brooke take out her phone and take a picture of me. What's with this girl and taking pictures of me? Whatever, I can't think about that now. I have to call my family. Oh joy…

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After we left Clothes over Bro's I had Peyton drop me off at Taylor's bar. I enter the dimly lit building to see Taylor behind the counter again mixing a couple of drinks.

"hello sister dearest" I wave to her.

"what do you want?" she asks, knowing I need her help. And it's not so much help, but it's more forgiveness.

"so Brooke and I were talking and we came to the conclusion that she wants… to meet the fam." I say and I see Taylor put the liquor down, place both hands on the counter and stare at me.

"as in Jacob, Daniel, Vivian and Quinn, kind of family?"

"and you of course. But technically she's already met you"

"… So you're inviting them down here?"

"yeah"

"have fun getting them all to take time of their jobs for you" she says sarcastically. That's true. Getting them all to come down here on short notice is going to be a bitch. "have you called them yet?" she asks, not making eye contact. She was never fond of our siblings all coming to see us at once.

"no"

"where are they staying?" she asks, already knowing half the answer.

"well, see, I was kind of thinking…"

"no" she says firmly.

"but Tay! My place can only fit 2 guests, and so can yours!"

"like I want Jacob and Daniel staying at my apartment, those guys are pigs"

"fine, they can stay in my apartment, you take Vivian and Quinn then."

"so they can tease me about being a bartender for a few days? No thanks"

"please Taylor! What kind of sisters would we be if we made them stay in a hotel?"

"the kind that don't like their siblings?" she asks.

"oh come on, they're not that bad"

"yeah, you keep thinking that" Taylor mutters back.

"please Taylor!" I beg.

"no" she says back firmly. I think I have a plan.

"you know, I've got a press conference coming up next week and I want my close friends and family to be there, and I was thinking about maybe inviting Chris Keller to come see…" she looks up and I can see her debating herself in her head. "but if you can't do this one little thing for me, I don't think I can do anything for you…"

"…fine" she agrees reluctantly. "but I call dibs on Viv and Quinn"

"deal"

"so why does Brooke want to meet them all of a sudden?" should I tell her? I kind of promised Brooke I wouldn't. Well it's not like she doesn't already know about Brooke proposing to me.

"well Brooke and I are getting serious" I reply simply and I see it in her eyes that she knows why Brooke wants to meet them.

"is that what the press conference is for? So you can tell the world about you and Brooke and then kiss her in front of the biggest reporters in New York?"

"well I intend to let our relationship out, but Brooke's not going to be there"

"and that makes sense, how?" Taylor asks.

"it makes sense in the way that Brooke has her fashion show that night as well, and neither of us can change our plans" I reply unemotionally and Taylor knows how much this night means to me, so she doesn't push it any further.

"well as long as Chris is there, I don't really care" only she would say something like that. I still can't figure out why Taylor likes Chris. He's really a self obsessed rock star.

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So here's the deal. For some reason my brothers and sisters all agreed to come down to New York to visit me. I didn't specifically tell them why. I just told them there was someone special in my life and I want to make sure they're okay with my relationship. They're just as clueless as the media basically.

Somehow all 4 of them managed to take time off from their work. But then again, I guess it's not that hard when you're your own boss. That's right. All of the James kids managed to become their own boss, except for me. But Peyton's not really that much of a boss.

Anyways, they said they'd be down in a week but only for a few days, which is a good thing, because I don't think I could handle any more time with them. The only thing left is to tell Brooke about it. So here I am, calling my girlfriend to let her know. And yes, I did just call her my girlfriend. Why? Because she is. No point in hiding it.

"Brooke Davis' phone Mil-"

"-hi, it's Haley" I cut her off. No need for her to waste her breath.

"just a second" she says nicely. I really should meet this girl formally.

"Brooke Davis, super cool fashion designer" Brooke says teasingly.

"got a pen handy?"

"Sure" she replies.

"okay, write this down. September 28th. Got it?"

"yep. Now what is it?"

"the day the James kids comes to town" I answer her.

"so this is it for sure? You called them?"

"yeah, they're going to stay with me and Taylor for a couple of days, then they have to go back to work."

"okay, I have a meeting that day but I'll see if I can move bump it up and I'll see you that night. Okay?"

"sounds good to me"

"… Hales, if you don't mind me asking, why were you so reluctant to call your brothers and sisters?"

"not for me, for Taylor" I answer her and I can already tell she doesn't get it.

"what?" see.

"I may be the baby of the family, but to our brothers and sisters Taylor's always kind of been the _free_ one"

"what do you mean _free_?" Brooke asks.

"well, intelligence runs in the James family. We all had the brains to do what ever we wanted. My siblings, Vivian, Quinn, Daniel and Jacob all became doctors"

"all of them?"

"every last one of them. Taylor was next in line, and she had the smarts to become a doctor too, but she didn't want to. And it's not like it was our parents pressuring her, it was our older brothers and sisters. So one day she just decided to do something else with her life and live in the moment"

"what about you? Did you want to become a doctor?"

"no, I've always wanted to be a musician."

"so how come your sister gets grilled and you don't?"

"… because I became famous and make more than they do a year. Everyone else thinks she's nothing more than a small time bartender" I explain sadly. It's really not fair to her. I mean she started up a business all by herself, that's got to be worth something, doesn't it?

"is that why you two are so close?" Brooke asks, piecing the bits of information together.

"yeah, partly, I guess. Over the last few years we've spent a lot more time together. A lot more time than any of our other siblings."

"Well now's the time to change that all"

"I suppose…"

"oh! did you see the tabloids today? Big news!"

"What? Did Lucas propose to someone else?"

"no. But you should really check it out. It's _sensational_. And this time, it's actually true. I've been getting calls all afternoon from it. I'm sure Peyton has too."

"well, tell me what it is!" I hate being kept in suspense.

"well go down and get a paper then! Lazy!" she yells teasingly.

"you know, I'll remember this next time you're over at my apartment and getting all touchy-feely… and more touchy"

"that's fine, because I know you can't resist me" she says in her sexy voice. God, that voice is so irresistible. And she knows it.

"okay, I'll talk to you later. I have to go find the closest newspaper stand"

"alright, don't be afraid to call if you get _lonely_" she says slyly, and it's like everything we say these days have that sexual innuendo added to it. I love it.

"wow, I didn't know Clothes Over Bro's offered a booty call line too" I say jokingly.

"well we are a _full_ service company" Brooke says back.

"then, I just might take you up on that offer Miss. Davis"

"well, I'll be expecting your call then, Miss. James" she says with a laugh.

"alright, bye babe"

"bye"

As soon as I hang up the phone I head downstairs and out of my apartment, heading down the street to the nearest news stand. I find one about 2 blocks away and pick up the most popular tabloid, handing over my money at the same time.

Check that out.

It's a picture of Rachel, Peyton, Brooke, Nathan, Lucas and me all in the airport looking fabulous as usual. Above the picture reads the title 'The Sensational Six'. That is so cool! We're like the fantastic four, but with like 2 more people. Okay, that sounds kind of lame, but this is actually cool.

Just as I'm about to flip open the magazine and start reading about it my phone rings. So I turn it on and press it between my ear and shoulder so I can use both hands.

"yeah?" I ask, instead of the usual hello.

"finally! I've been trying to call you for an hour" Peyton yells loudly.

"yeah, sorry, I was making a few phone calls. Did you see the magazine? We're the _Sensational Six_. Doesn't that just sound exciting?" I think it's cool. I read up a little and see the topic of the article mostly how 6 famous people such as us are so close together.

"yeah, I was calling about that. People magazine wants to do a whole spread on us, cover page and all."

"sweet!"

"yeah, so what they're thinking about doing is interviewing us all separately and then we each get like a page in the magazine for a mini bio and a picture. Sound cool to you?"

"an article about me and my friends? How could I not love it?"

"alright, I'll set it up and the magazine's going to come out in a couple of weeks, so they're under a pretty tight time schedule"

"okay. What else do I have coming up?"

"tomorrow we're back in the studio for a few hours. On Wednesday you have an autograph signing at the music store on 5th Avenue. On Friday you have an interview with E! and I'll see when your People interview is" she lists.

"oh, hey listen, my brothers and sisters are coming in to town on the 28th, so I'm going to need a couple of days to spend with them" I say.

"I don't know Haley, we still have a lot to do for your press conference"

"oh and Brooke said if you say no you have to answer to her" I point out.

"… crap." Peyton mutters. We both know there's no arguing with Brooke. "okay fine, you get 2 days, but if the People interview is on one of those days I'm not changing it"

"fine" I agree reluctantly.

"how many brothers and sisters do you have anyways?" Peyton asks, off topic.

"including Taylor? …5"

"damn, you have a big family"

"yep. And Brooke wants to meet them all"

"so this is for Brooke? Why?" she asks suspiciously, I think she knows something's up.

"just because" I answer mysteriously.

"… you know, I could just ask Brooke and she would tell me" Peyton says.

"you really want to know?"

"yeah" she answers.

"Well then go ask Brooke" I say and hang up. I know Brooke wouldn't tell her. Or maybe she would, but if she did it wouldn't really matter, because Brooke's the one who wanted to keep it a secret in the first place. All I know is that I have a full week ahead of me, and bringing the fam into town isn't going to make it easy.

If anything, something is bound to go horribly wrong.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**First of all, just let me say how sorry I am for not updating. This story has been blocking me majorly. I'm trying to write an eventual ending for it, but it just keeps dragging out. So I promise, I'm going to try and write more, but with school starting up again it's harder. So hold on and have faith!**

This week has been pretty much pure chaos. The CD signing felt like it went on for hours, and it did. I signed nearly 400 of my albums, or posters of me, or magazines with me on the cover. It was ridiculous. And Peyton just sat there talking on her cell phone the entire time. After the signing came the interview with E! and let me tell you, interviews to this day still make me nervous, especially when it's on TV the next day. For some reason I just can't watch myself on TV.

Of course, how can we forget the People magazine interview, which just happened to be scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately, it was scheduled right before the flights came in. So here I am, waiting in the airport, sunglasses down, hiding behind a magazine waiting for my brothers and sisters. Brooke's meeting is still going and Taylor decided the less time she spent with the family, the better, so I'm here alone. But the limo is waiting out front… got to impress them somehow.

I think the plan was for each of them to meet up with one another in what ever city they were in, and then all four of them would catch a flight that would connect somewhere and eventually land them in New York. And according to one of the many TVs around here, their flight landed about 45 minutes ago, meaning I should see them any second.

And there they are. Right on time. As soon as Vivian spots me I see her nudge Quinn and start waving frantically.

"Haley!" she yells as loud as possible. Seriously, does she want me to get swarmed by the media?

"hey Viv, Quinn" I say and give them each a hug.

"how's my little sis doin?" Daniel asks.

"pretty good, how's my big bro doin?" I ask back as I give him a hug.

"oh I'm doing great" Jacob answers from behind Daniel. He steps out of the way and lets Jacob give me a hug too. "now where's my other little sister?" he means Taylor.

"she was busy at work and couldn't come" I lie. No need to hurt their feelings now.

"uh huh" Quinn answers.

"so what's so important that we _all_ had to come down to New York for?" Viv asks.

"me of course" I say with a smile. I grab one of Vivian's bags and throw it over my shoulder and lead them to the limo. They don't exactly know who I'm dating just yet. And I'm trying to keep it that way for a while.

We came back to my apartment because Brooke said that she'd come over to my place tonight and we could all go out for dinner. So without even going over to Taylor's apartment we have all of our luggage up in my place along with 4 of my siblings. Taylor said she'd be over soon. Meaning she's trying to postpone it as long as possible.

"Hales, who are we meeting tonight?" Daniel asks from the couch.

"you'll find out when they get here" I answer. Where's Brooke, she was supposed call me to let me know she was leaving. And where's Taylor she should be here by now.

"girl or guy?" Quinn asks. You know, I'm kind of glad they know about me and girls/boys. It eases things a little. Well not really.

"girl" I answer and as soon as I do Daniel, Jacob and Vivian all pull out five dollars from their pockets and hand it over to Quinn. That's nice, really, I love how my own family bets on me. If they weren't all doctors they'd probably be like black jack dealers or something.

Before I can comment on anything I hear a knock at my door. It's probably Taylor. I open the door to see a very disgruntle looking sister.

"am I late?" she asks.

"yes"

"Good" she replies without guilt as she walks into my apartment, by passing me. I quickly shut the door and turn around to follow her in.

"hey everyone" Taylor says carelessly as she takes a seat on another couch. She acts like she sees them every day.

"Well if it isn't our little sister, the _bartender_" Vivian teases. As the oldest child she usually gets away with this stuff. After Vivian comes Daniel, then Jacob, then Quinn, then Taylor… _then_ me.

"Viv." She acknowledges her. "How's working 20 hour shifts going for you?" she snaps back.

"pretty good actually" she answers. "but I guess it'll never beat stay up until dawn, getting drunk every night. You know, saving lives just doesn't give me the thrill it used to" she says sarcastically.

"you probably say the same thing about your sex life, how _is_ your old college professor, by the way?"

"oh? don't you see him in your bar every night? Oh wait, never mind, I forgot, no one actually goes to your bar"

"hm, really? I guess I'm too busy to notice. You know me, always out having fun, you know living my life. I'd go into further detail, but there's no need to make you jealous now" Taylor says.

"sorry, but I guess making 6 figures a year just isn't the fun I thought it'd be" Vivian says back. Not to brag or anything, but I make 7 figures a year. Go me.

"6 figures? Wow" Taylor says fakely. "too bad you don't have any time to spend that money, working as long as you do"

"maybe I should invest it in something? Perhaps your bar? Oh, no wait, I want something that would actually turn a profit. Sorry Tay"

Okay so after that line I pretty much zoned out. Honestly these two could go all night, just insulting each other, it's ridiculous. But we don't have all night. In fact, Brooke should have been here already.

Instead of waiting for her I decide to call her cell phone.

"Brooke Davis' phone, Mil-"

"-put her on" I cut her off.

"oh hi Haley" she starts. That's different. Usually she just hands the phone over to Brooke. "Brooke's a little busy right now. Can I take a message for you?" message? Uh, I don't think so.

"what do you mean she's busy?"

"she's in a meeting with Victoria trying to get her final outfits approved" Millicent explains.

"well do you know how long she's going to be?"

"it could be a few more minutes or it could be a few more hours" hours? What?

"And Brooke knew about this all?" I ask, just to clarify.

"I believe so." She answers.

"alright, can you just have her call me as soon as possible, please?"

"of course."

"okay, thanks Millicent"

"bye Haley" she says and hangs up. So much for tonight. Seriously, how could Brooke just forget tonight? She was the one who was stressing on meeting my family, and here they are, all together in one room, taking off time from work, just for her and she's not even here! I turn back to my brothers and sisters and I see Vivian and Taylor standing up now and yelling at each other. How do these things escalate to this?

"yeah, well you couldn't find happiness with three hands and a flashlight!" Taylor yells at her.

"yeah, well at least I have some sort of stability in my life! What do you have? A room full of liquor?!" Vivian yells back. I look at everyone else to see they're just casually sitting around, not even caring about the fight.

"hey! Sit down!" I yell as loud as my voice can go. Instantly Taylor and Vivian go silent and take their seats.

"Haley, where's your girlfriend?" Daniel asks.

"well… she…" quick Haley, think of an excuse!

"she's not coming is she?" Jacob asks.

"… I couldn't really get a hold of her, but her assistant said she was in a really important meeting"

"assistant?" Vivian asks.

"important meeting?" Daniel asks.

"… they don't know who it is, do they?" Taylor asks with a smirk.

"you know?" Jacob asks.

"tell us!" Vivian instantly says.

"why don't you go use your six figure pay check to figure it out" Taylor says smartly. Yeah, she's not going to tell them just out of spite… which works for me.

"so, anyways…" I start. "she might be a while, business is kind of hectic for her right now, and well we'll see what happens later"

"you know, for someone being so special in your life, you'd think she'd try to impress your family" Quinn points out. Well I thought the same thing…

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It's been hours since I called Brooke's line. I've been sitting here in the living room for a while now, cell phone in hand, still waiting for her call.

It never came.

Once it started getting late, Taylor took Vivian and Quinn back to her place for the night while Daniel and Jacob crashed here. They went to sleep about 45 minutes ago. For some reason I kept thinking Brooke would show up on my door step and make everything better, but instead, I haven't heard from her all day. Not even a phone call from her assistant.

You know what? I'm tired and I don't think I can wait for Brooke any longer. I turn off the one lamp lighting up the room and head down the hall to my bedroom. I take off my jeans, and put on some comfortable shorts and pull a tank top on. I get into bed thinking only of Brooke.

…and how she really messed this one up.

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I'm awoken later by the light feeling of the bed moving and an arm finding it's way over my body. I turn over to see what looks like my girlfriend.

"Brooke?"

"hey" she says softly, and I can already hear a pang of guilt in her voice.

"where have you been?" I ask looking at the clock. It's almost 2:30am.

"I'm so sorry. The meeting ran really late, and there was traffic and Victoria cut off my ties to my cell phone and I just couldn't leave."

"We waited for you for hours. All of my brothers and sisters came into town just to meet you and you can't even take a couple hours out of your schedule to have dinner with us? You told me how important this was to you and I believed you!"

"I know! But I couldn't just leave work like that. This is important to me, and I really want to make a good impression on your family. But I just had to take care of work"

"you know they think you can't even show up for dinner on time now? They think you don't care about me"

"but I do! You know I do!"

"no, I don't. Brooke, if you cared about me you would have came to see my family like you promised" I say turning over in the bed, just to show her how disappointed and angry I am.

"hey" she whispers softly into my ear. "I'll make it up to you I promise"

"you know, I didn't even get to talk to _you_ today. I had to talk to your assistant. I mean you couldn't have called or something? The fact that you just blew us off makes it so much more worse" I say turning to look at her, then turning back.

"look, tomorrow morning we'll all meet up and smooth things over. I promise"

"yeah, what ever" I mutter back angrily.

"do you think you could forgive me?" she whispers into my ear. I can feel her hot breath braze against my neck. That kills me sometimes.

"no" I say angrily, despite what my body wants right now.

"… please?" she asks quietly as she presses her lips against the back of my neck. Ooh the light kissing always gets me.

"no" I manage to say again, but it was hard.

"are you sure?" she asks slyly as I feel her hand make it's way down my leg and her kissing along my jaw line. She is so hard to resist sometimes.

"mhm" I say with a small head nod. I've lost the ability to form actual words right now. Don't mind me.

"Well then I guess I should try a little harder" she says as I feel her warm tongue run over my ear lobe and her hand starts getting lower and lower.

"Brooke we can't do this tonight. My brother's are down the hall"

"I won't tell if you won't" she whispers.

"don't make me tie you to the bed" I threaten jokingly.

"oh please do" she says teasingly back. I turn over and give her a kiss we've both been yearning for. I finally pull back and snuggle in closer to her.

"does this mean you forgive me?"

"for now" I answer. "tomorrow you better impress them, cause you're already losing your brownie points"

"okay, tomorrow it will be all different. I promise your family is going to love me"

"of course they will, because I love you. Now go to sleep." I tell her as I give her a light kiss and get comfortable against her body.

God, I hope they like her tomorrow.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**So a certain frequent reviewer of mine was reading my other story and also asked me to post another chapter for this story. So how could I resist? So this one's for spashley20.**

The next morning, which is just a few hours later from when Brooke came to bed, we're awoken by some sort of quiet noise. And I know Brooke's starting to wake up too, because I can feel her moving beside me.

I finally crack open my eyes towards my doorway and end of the bed to see a bunch of people standing in my room. Oh god, not now. I look over at Brooke who soon opens her eyes only to be frightened by the fact my brothers and sisters are all watching us. I see her jump in the bed a little and move to cover her body. Of course she isn't wearing most of her clothes, which really makes things worse.

"can we do this in an hour when I'm actually awake?" I ask.

"so this is her?" one of my brother's states. I think it was Daniel.

"hi" Brooke replies shyly. It's probably because my family is staring at her when she's barely wearing any clothes.

"can we get a minute?" I ask in an annoyed tone.

"I don't know… we left you alone for the night and you already got a girl in bed" Quinn says jokingly.

"Taylor, why did you let them in?" I ask.

"because I thought it would be funny… _And I was right_." Taylor answers.

"Haley, why does your girlfriend look so familiar?" Viv asks.

"her face is plastered on every billboard across New York" Taylor answers for me.

"you're Brooke Davis!" Quinn finally realizes.

"that's me" Brooke says with a shy smile. Maybe we should get dressed.

"do you guys mind if we get dressed first?"

"yeah, let's give Haley and Brooke a few minutes alone" Jacob says guiding everyone out of the room. "but _just_ a few minutes"

"so that's the family?" Brooke asks.

"that's them" I answer, as I lean back against the pillows pressed up against the head board. "are you ready to take on the James family?" I ask jokingly as I watch her get up from the bed and put on a set of clothes she brought with her for the night. I guess we're so used to staying over at each other's place that we've come accustomed to it.

"as long as you're on my team I think I can handle them" she answers as she slips into a casual dress and adds her very stylish accessories. One of the perks about dating a fashion designer – she always looks hot.

I see Brooke open the doors to my small walk in closet and pull out a casual dress for me that she managed to find. It's weird, I didn't even know I had a dress in this closet. This is more usually my 'jeans and a t-shirt' closet. What ever. She tosses the dress in my direction and I decide I might as well get dressed. I add my little touch like my three silver rings to my fingers and my matching necklaces and turn around to see Brooke with her phone out and taking a picture of me.

"what's with the camera?"

"nothing" she answers quickly, and before I can press the subject further Brooke is pushing me out the bedroom door and into the living room.

"hey guys" I say making our presence known. "this is Brooke, my girlfriend" I introduce her. "Brooke this is Quinn, Daniel, Jacob, Vivian and of course you know Taylor" I say pointing to everyone. Taylor gets up from her seat and gives Brooke a light hug.

"how you doing Brooke?" Taylor asks.

"I'm great. How about you Tay? How's that business of yours doing?"

"pretty good" Taylor answers.

"wait, you already know Taylor?" Quinn asks.

"she's a recovering alcoholic" Taylor lies with a serious face. That was mean.

"_no_, she met Brooke when we lived in Tree Hill" I quickly say. It's bad enough they all found me in bed with Brooke this morning, probably looking like we just had sex all night. I don't need them to think she's got a drinking problem too.

"Brooke lived in Tree Hill?" Vivian asks. Do they know nothing about me and Brooke?

"where did you think I met her?" I ask.

"in New York. So wait, you knew Brooke in high school?" Daniel asks.

"Brooke and I _dated_ in high school!" I say like they should have known that.

"how come we didn't know about this?" Jacob asks.

"cause you were never around when Haley was in high school" Taylor says rudely, and suddenly the room goes quiet. Awkward silence.

"anyways" Vivian starts. "Brooke, you, you're… uh dating my sister now?"

"yes" she answers nervously.

"for how long?"

"a few weeks?" she guesses. I take a seat next to Brooke trying to help her along the way.

"that's it? Haley, why are we here to see your girlfriend if you've only been dating a few weeks?" Quinn asks.

"shut up Quinn" Taylor says.

"yeah, shut up Quinn" I add.

"look, I know it seems like I'm just another girl in Haley's life, but I promise you, Haley is so important to me" Brooke says.

"and she's important to us" Jacob adds in a serious tone. Please tell me they're just joking with her.

"oh please, Brooke's harmless. I've known her for like 5 years. I mean the worst thing she's probably done is gotten little ole' Haley arrested or something. But there was that small gap of 5 years where they were totally in love with each other, but didn't do anything about it. But that's over now" Taylor says. Taylor's also an idiot.

"what the hell Taylor?!" I yell.

"you were arrested?!" Daniel asks. Ooh, he and Jacob are pretty protective over me sometimes.

"it was nothing. We got locked in a store over night. No charges were pressed" I say to comfort them, but can tell right away that they're really not impressed with Brooke. That needs to change.

"hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we go down to the park" Brooke suggests happily.

"do you really think the parks a good idea? With you two being who you are and all…" Taylor says.

"I don't hide at home every day because people know who I am. If I did I'd never go out" Brooke says as she gets up and gets her purse. "well are you guys coming or what?" she asks, heading for the door. I immediately get up and follow her as does the rest of my family.

As soon as we get down to the park, we all kind of separate a little bit. I head off with Jacob, Daniel and Taylor as Brooke goes off with Vivian and Quinn.

"so is she nice to you?" Daniel asks, right off the bat.

"what? Of course she is!" I say back as we walk around a little, enjoying the nature around us.

"cause if she isn't, I'm not afraid to hit a girl" Jacob says.

"you will not hurt her" I threaten him.

"you'd let us know if you're ever in trouble right?" Daniel asks.

"yeah sure" but it's not like you could do anything anyways.

"so how's the sensational six?" Taylor asks with a smirk. She must have seen the magazine.

"pretty good actually. They were in town a few days ago."

"sensational six?" Daniel asks.

"just me and a couple of friends, plus Brooke and her friends" I clarify. "it's no big deal"

"no big deal? Oh come on, you and your best friends are known as six of the most famous people in the U.S." Taylor points out.

"best friends huh? How come we haven't met them?" Daniel asks. And I swear I'm getting this déjà vu feeling. Oh yeah, he basically used the same line with Brooke like an hour ago.

"because you guys live in other places and are busy with your lives" I answer.

"… who are they?" Jacob asks.

"Nathan and Lucas Scott"

"the basketball player and author, right?" Jacob asks.

"that's them" I say.

"didn't he propose to you?" Daniel asks.

"no, he proposed to another girl, which is Brooke's best friend"

"who is…?"

"Peyton Sawyer, who coincidently is also my boss" I answer.

"You're dating your boss' best friend?" Jacob asks.

"well technically I'm dating the girl who is best friends with my boss. Big difference" I say.

"and you dated Brooke in high school?" Daniel asks.

"for a few months" I answer.

"what happened?"

"they broke up" Taylor answers for me and I just shrug at them.

"life got in the way and it's kind of like we just postponed our relationship with each other for a few years. If we hadn't we might not have the careers we have today" I explain.

"… ever wonder what if would have been like if you two had stayed together?" Taylor asks.

"sometimes. But then I think about how much I love being a musician and singing. And _then_ I think how Brooke might not haven been what she is today"

"…but do you ever think about all the time over the last 5 years that you could have been happy with her?" Taylor asks.

"the thought never leaves my mind" I answer simply.

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(Brooke's POV)

"So, Brooke…" Vivian starts as she takes her hot dog from the hot dog vendor.

"yeah?" I ask nervously as I take two hot dogs from the vendor and put ketchup on both as Vivian and Quinn put their own toppings on theirs.

"drinks?" the guy asks.

"coke and ginger ale" I say and he hands me over a couple of cans of soda. I pay the guy for all of the food and drinks in total and we start to walk down the street.

"so you're a fashion designer?" Quinn asks.

"yeah" I reply… still nervous here.

"what kind of hours do you work then?" Vivian asks.

"um, most of the time I can choose my hours, but usually I go with working during the day. And sometimes it goes into the night, or maybe I have to go out of town for the day, sometimes it's hectic but I deal with it" I answer honestly, but then I realize they're probably asking me because they want to know how much time I spend with Haley. "but lately, I've been hanging around New York a lot and at home."

"uh huh" Quinn mutters. "you know Haley's got a pretty busy career herself…"

"I know" I answer.

"and I'm sure you're quite aware that we wouldn't want something to get in the way of her success" Vivian adds.

"of course not" and yes, I know they're hinting towards me. "and I know for a fact she feels the exact same way towards me and my career" they nod and I already know they approve of my answer, probably just because it was honest.

"what happened 5 years ago?" Quinn asks. I knew this question would come.

"well, Haley and I were graduating from high school and I was offered an internship with a designer, but was contemplating not going because of Haley. She found out and broke it off with me so that I would go" I explain.

"do you think she made the right decision?" Vivian asks and I know it's one of those questions where my answer defines a lot about me. I won't let that happen just because of one question.

"look, I know what you're trying to do. And I know you're only in town for a couple of days and you're trying to figure out who I am and whether or not I'm good enough for your sister. But you're just asking questions that define who I am. And I just don't let people define my life. I define who I am but that definition never stops changing… and no, I don't think she made the right decision" I say just before we finally meet up with Haley, Taylor and their brothers.

"hey, I got you a hot dog" I say handing over one of my hot dogs to Haley. "I know you like ketchup" I say with a smile.

"aw, thank you, but I think you got me confused with you. You're the one who eats it on everything" Haley says back to me.

"oh please, I know I got you hooked on ketchup" I say giving her a ginger ale to wash the hot dog down.

"oh shut it. I liked ketchup before"

"yeah, whatever" I answer smartly. We take a few steps away from her family just so we can talk on our own.

"so are they everything you thought they'd be?" Haley asks me.

"they're a lot more protective than I thought they'd be." I say. "but there's nothing to be worried about"

"so how's the fashion show coming along?"

"it's crazy. I'm lucky I got today off. Well most of it. I have to go back into work soon. How's your music going?"

"good. We've already got a couple of songs down and it's kind of hard, but I work through it" Haley answers.

"I know you do" I smile at her.

"so are you coming back to my place tonight after work?"

"I don't know… why?" I ask slyly.

"not _that_." She answers quickly. "it's just today's the first day in a while that we've spent together. It seems like I haven't been able to spend time with you. And I miss you"

"just admit it Haley, you miss my hot body at night" I say quietly.

"maybe I do, maybe I don't…" she replies.

"maybe, huh? Well _maybe _I can change your mind" I say pulling her closer to me by her waist. But she quickly pushes my hands away and takes a step back.

"Brooke, not in public" she mutters.

"oh come on Haley, things are going to be out in a few days anyways" I say.

"I know, but I'd rather come out and say it instead of people finding out through tabloids and making a huge scandal out of it" I guess she has a point.

"fine, but you can't hold me accountable for when we're in the privacy of my or your apartment."

"deal" she agrees with me.

"hey you two!" Taylor calls out. We both turn to look at her and the other 4 James kids who are all waiting for us. "the doctors want to go shopping, you coming?"

"do you have time?" Haley asks hopefully. I look down at my watch. Shit. I have to be back at work in half an hour.

"sorry I don't think I can." I apologize. "Victoria will kill me if I don't show up. She keeps getting angry because I keep adding small accessories to my outfits at the last second. We're doing a run through today"

"okay well you're going to stay the night at my place, right?"

"yeah, I'll see if I can get away early and we'll all watch a movie or something, sound good?"

"sounds great. I'll see you tonight" she says with a small wave. I can't wait until everything's out. Then I can finally kiss my girlfriend good bye. Until then, I'll have to settle for a wave.

"bye" I say softly as I see her jog over to her enormous family, leaving me to go back to work.

I catch the closest cab and go straight back to my office where I know Victoria will be waiting for me. Up the elevator, passed Jenna – who always seems excited to see me – and straight to my corner office with my name on the door. I open it up to see Victoria already sitting in _my _seat waiting for me.

"there you are" she says calmly.

"and there _you _are… sitting in _my_ chair" I say trying to give her the hint. I put my purse down on my desk and stand in front of her, still waiting to her to get up.

"we've got a problem. We need to talk" she says in a serious tone. This sounds bad.

"about what?"

"… your girlfriend" Victoria says with a frown.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"we've got a problem. We need to talk" she says in a serious tone. This sounds bad.

"about what?"

"… your girlfriend" Victoria says with a frown. How did she find out? Oh shit, she's not going to like this.

"what about her?" I ask as if I'm not nervous or scared at all. Even though I totally am.

"Brooke, what were you thinking!?" oh, her voice is getting louder. Bad sign. Very bad sign.

"what do you mean '_what was I thinking?_'? I was thinking I was in love with her" I explain.

"you're 23, you don't know what love is!"

"I think I'll be the judge of that" I counter.

"well that's beside the point. Have you even considered what this would do to your career? A fashion designer and a musician do not go together"

"_we_ do" I mutter angrily.

"if you haven't noticed this company is called Clothes Over _Bro's_" she points out. "not Clothes Over Girls" that doesn't even rhyme!

"it's just a name, what does it matter anyways?!"

"I refuse to let you throw this company away. You've worked so hard to get here and you're just going to let it all go down the drain, over a girl?"

"she's not just any girl! You don't get it! I have been miserable for the longest time, and she finally comes back into my life and I feel like… I feel like everything's better. Like my life is better, somehow. I actually look forward to coming home every day and seeing her! I missed being happy. And I refuse to just throw _that_ away."

"she is_ just_ another fling…"

"no she isn't" I shake my head. "she never was and never will be."

"_she never was_?" Victoria repeats.

"we dated in high school. But you wouldn't have known that, would you?" I snap back. "how did you even find out anyways?" I try to clarify.

"I've seen the subtle signs. You're always spending your time with her and what not. Well all that stops now"

"oh please, you can't just start being my mother now. You have no say in my personal life anymore"

"wrong. I _control_ your personal life" my own mother says.

"no you don't! And it doesn't even matter anymore, because in just a few days Haley is going to announce our relationship to the public and everything will be out in the open."

"if you let that happen I will not come back to this company" she threatens. Like that's actually going to stop me from doing anything.

"don't let the door hit you on the way out!" I say with a smirk. Ooh, that felt good. I watch as Victoria angrily snatches her purse from my desk and gracefully walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Now that, that's taken care of… what do I do now?

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Okay, well I'm so glad today's over. After Victoria left, things got a little… hectic. But I'll survive. I mean, I'm behind a day on the fashion show, which is in two days, but I guess I'll just have to work late tomorrow. No big deal. But for now, I'm going home to see my girlfriend, and her 5 brothers and sisters.

I open Haley's apartment door with my very own key and walk inside. "hello?" I call out as I shut the door behind me.

"we're in the living room" I hear Haley shout back. I put my purse down near the door and walk around the corner to see her and her family all sitting around watching a movie. I walk around the couches and take a seat next to Haley, right before leaning over to give her a quick peck on the lips. I bring my legs up onto the couch and lean up against her. I feel her lean back a little and get comfortable.

"so what are we watching?" I ask, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl in front of us.

"Pirates of the Caribbean." Haley answers me.

"ooh, Johnny Depp" I say back and everyone turns around to look at me, except Haley. "what?" is there something on my face?

"Haley said the exact same thing when we chose the movie" Quinn points out.

"so? We both like Johnny Depp" I shrug.

"you guys are lame. Johnny Depp is old" Jacob states. "I'm so much better looking" you know, he reminds me of someone.

"Jacob, are you single?" I ask randomly.

"hey now, I thought you were dating my sister" Jacob says teasingly. "yeah, I'm single"

"we should totally set him up with Rachel" I say to Haley.

"whoa, now, I'm not a blind date kind of a guy" he says in his defense.

"she's a model" I quickly add.

"sign me _up_!" he yells excitedly making the rest of us start laughing. "so what's she look like?"

"red head, about 5'11" Haley guesses.

"hold on, Haley, do you have any of my old magazines?" I ask, opening up the cupboards underneath her coffee table.

"wait!" she yells, but it's too late I've already opened it up to see stacks and stacks of B. Davis magazine.

"Well, well, well" I say with a smirk, pulling out a few mags. "what do we have here?"

"just a few magazines" Haley says casually.

"uh huh, a few? You've got have all of my magazines that I've ever published in here" I say flipping through a little.

"jeez, Haley, I think you're a Brooke-aholic" Taylor says pulling out a few for her own viewing pleasure.

"oh, here" I say pulling out one with Rachel on the cover. Perks of being the best friend of the fashion designer who controls the magazine, you'll eventually land yourself on the cover. I toss the magazine to Jacob who catches it with ease and we all watch as his face lights up at the hot model on the cover.

"dude, you know Rachel Gatina?" he asks surprisingly. I'm surprised he knows her name and all.

"we've been best friends for years" I reply.

"she's one of the sensational six" Haley adds.

"…so just out of curiosity… why exactly do you have all of my magazines?" I ask Haley.

I can see her struggle to come with an answer, but I already know. "I wanted to… know the top 10 ways to land your guy" she says holding up a magazine with that caption on the cover.

"uh huh" I say in a disbelieving tone.

"it's true!" she tries to argue. But we all know the real reason.

"if you say so…" I say teasingly, trying to get her to break.

"okay, fine! I wanted to see how you and your business was doing!" she finally gives in. Ah, sweet victory.

"see, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" I ask hypothetically.

"I'll get you for that later"

"oh, please do" I say with a smirk.

"okay!" Daniel cuts in before we can say anything too dirty. "that's enough"

"aw, Daniel's just jealous that he doesn't get a blind date with a super model"

"yeah right" he says back.

"he's married" Taylor states. I'm not really surprised. He's a handsome, young doctor, who wouldn't want that?

"really?" I ask.

"3 years" he says holding up his wedding band.

"alright, who else is married?" I ask.

"Vivian" everyone says at once.

"4 years" Vivian says proudly.

"Quinn?" I ask.

"single" she admits. Light bulb.

"oh my god! We should totally set her up with Nathan!" I say to Haley.

"I don't know. Don't you think you're going too far with this whole blind date thing?" Haley asks.

"no way. Quinn, he's a total fox, not to mention he's a 6 foot 3 tall basketball player. Professional, of course and not to mention, size 13 shoes." I say with a quick wink.

"you know Brooke, I'm starting to like you" Quinn says making everyone else laugh out loud. "got a picture?"

"Hales, do you have a picture of Nate?" I ask.

"yeah, hold on" she says with a sigh as she gets up to go to her room. She comes back within seconds, holding a picture of her and the Scott brothers.

"he's the brunette" Haley points out.

"damn, Hales, I need to meet more of your friends" Quinn says with a smile.

"um to tell you the truth, I don't think it would work out between you guys, or you and Rachel for that matter" I say to Quinn and Jacob.

"what, why?" Brooke asks quickly.

"well remember how before when I… I uh went to see Taylor one night, right after Peyton and Lucas got engaged?" I ask trying not to give away too much information about that particular night.

"oh… yeah…" she says.

"well before I went to see Taylor that night I went to your apartment to talk to Nathan and well when I did he and Rachel both came out of the same bedroom…"

"so they could have been-"

"-half naked" I cut Brooke off.

"oh… OH!" she finally realizes. "damn. But wouldn't that have been totally perfect, Hales? Picture this, if you and I got married, then Nathan and Quinn got married, then Rachel and Daniel, and Lucas and Peyton, we'd literally all be family! I mean the Scott brothers would actually be your brothers, and then I'd be sisters with Rachel and Peyton through the other marriages" I say excitedly and it's now I realize everyone else has gone silent. Uh oh. I mentioned that I wanted to get married to Haley didn't I? I think that may have been too soon.

Before any of Haley's siblings can ask me anything, Haley gets up from the couch and pulls me towards the kitchen.

"we'll get some more popcorn" Haley says quickly. We get to the kitchen and out of hearing range from the living room.

"oh my god! Do they hate me?" I ask, taking a seat on one of her stools.

"no, no of course not, but I think you kind of freaked them out with the marriage thing"

"sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. Are you okay?"

"me? Of course. I already knew you wanted to get married… they didn't."

"great, I totally screwed up now!" I say covering my face with my hands. What the hell have I done? Why do I always screw things up? First today with Victoria, now Haley with marriage. I swear _that_ word is cursed with me.

"hey, hey, hey" Haley says pulling my hands away. "who cares what they think?"

"I do!" I yell. "Haley, I want to be with you forever, and it's going to be hard if your family thinks I rushed you into everything"

"look, I don't want you to think about what they think" Haley starts. "I know that one day I want to marry you. And I will. Until then you can't worry about pleasing my family, plus I don't want you adding to the pressure of your fashion show"

"what if they ask me about the whole marriage thing?"

"then… I don't know. Just don't lie. If it's one thing they hate, it's lying."

"okay…" I whisper.

"look, everything's going to be okay." Haley comforts me. She was always good at that. "I promise" what would I do without this girl? I look up at her and give her a little smile, to let her know that she really does make me feel better.

"thank you" I say softly. She cups my cheeks and brings my face closer to hers so she can give me a kiss. "now what's this about making popcorn?"

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Okay, so the firefighters just left. I mean, how was I supposed to know you were supposed to take the plastic wrap off of the popcorn bag?!

"well I guess I need a new microwave now" Haley says, still holding the fire extinguisher, while the rest of us stand here in the kitchen staring at the blackened microwave, covered in white foam from the extinguishers.

"I'm so sorry Hales!"

"Brooke, it's alright. If anything it was my fault. I shouldn't have let you make the popcorn" she says seriously.

"who can't make popcorn?" Taylor asks hypothetically.

"shut up Taylor" Haley says.

"yeah, shut up Taylor" I repeat for effect. She sends a glare my way and I'm quick to hide behind Haley.

"I think we should sign Brooke up for cooking classes or something" Daniel says jokingly.

"I've tried that, actually" I state.

"and?" Haley asks.

"let's just say Chef Pierre was able to get a restraining order pretty fast" true story actually.

"I think the kitchen should have gotten a restraining order from you" Quinn says making everyone laugh as she looks at the pitch black popcorn sitting in the bowl.

"okay, okay, jokes over" Haley says in my defence. "why don't I order in a pizza, okay?"

"yeah" everyone mutters back. Haley gives a quick nod as she picks up the phone and walks out of the room to make the order. And here I am, left alone in the kitchen with her brothers and sisters.

"I'm just going to go help Ha-"

"-sit" Vivian says in a serious tone. Okay, now I'm scared. I take a seat on a stool and watch as they all crowd around me.

"leave the poor girl alone Viv" Taylor says in my aid. Have I mentioned she's my favourite?

"look, I'm just taking the right precautions in protecting our little sister, Taylor" she says to Taylor, while staring at me. Okay, now I'm really nervous. "so Brooke…"

Here it comes. "yeah?"

"did you propose _with_ or _without_ a ring?" she asks. How did she know?

"Haley told you?" I ask.

"no" oh shit. "but it was pretty obvious." Viv says.

"how?"

"well we found it a little weird that you two were so comfortable talking about marriage like that. And we all know Haley really thinks things through before she does anything. And we know she wouldn't just jump into marriage" Quinn argues.

"how do you know she just didn't say yes, and we're just hiding it from you?"

"cause if Haley was engaged she wouldn't want to hide it" Daniel says.

"so? Was there a ring, or wasn't there?" Jacob asks. It's like they all take turns asking questions or saying something. It's weird.

"there wasn't" I say slowly.

"so it was just a spur of the moment type thing?" Quinn asks. They probably would have preferred with ring.

"sort of. Look, our friends had just gotten engaged that night and well I started thinking how I wanted to marry Haley one day. So I just asked her"

"how serious are you with Haley?" Daniel asks just diving into the question.

"I've never been more serious in my life. I know Haley's the girl I'm going to marry" I state and I see everyone glance at each other, not revealing what they're thinking.

"…okay, so this is how it's going to be. You hurt Haley, we'll kill you" Vivian starts. She's not serious is she?

"seems fair, probably because my friends probably said the same thing to her a few years ago" I say.

"you seem like a stable person Brooke, down to earth" Daniel starts. "you've got money and can take care of our little sister, but we're serious. Don't let anything happen to her. We're not always around to protect her and let's face it, Taylor's got her own life to worry about too sometimes. We're putting our trust into you"

"I won't let you down. I promise"

"that's all we wanted to know" Jacob says.

"and when you two _do_ get engaged, we want to be the first ones to know." Quinn speaks up.

"deal" I say. Just as we finish our conversation Haley walks back into the room and puts the phone back on the hook.

"so what did I miss?" she asks.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

(Haley's POV)

After we had a little dinner and coffee Taylor took Quinn and Vivian home, and Jacob and Daniel went to sleep, leaving Brooke and I alone for the rest of the night.

"so are you going to tell me what happened in the kitchen or not?"

"hm, not" Brooke states as she disrobes and climbs into bed beside me.

"didn't think so. Is there any chance you can give me a hint?"

"I don't know…" she says with a hint of sexiness in her voice. And I think I know what she wants.

"well, how about if I give you a kiss?"

"it's worth a try" she says and I lean over to give her a long passionate kiss.

"well?" I mumble against her lips.

"nope sorry, maybe you should try again" she says with a smirk. I give her a light slap on the arm and pull away.

"or how about I just threaten to cut you off from all forms of kissing and/or touching" I say.

"_and/or touching_?!" she yells, faking fear to an extent, and I just give her a glare back. "okay, okay. All they said was they were going to trust me" Brooke gives in. Trust her? That's a good thing. Wow, so they actually approve of this relationship. I knew they would all along. Okay, so I didn't. But I was hoping for it. "so can we get back to what we were doing? Because we haven't been able to… _you know_, for like a week"

"and I refuse to '_you know'_ until tomorrow. I'm not taking any chances with my brothers down the hall. Do you know how awkward that would be?"

"no, but we could find out" Brooke says as she lets her and travel up and down my bare thigh.

"you wish"

"you know I do" she says as she leans down to kiss my collar bone. Sometimes I hate that she knows all of my weak spots.

"okay, I can't take this anymore" I say as I get out of bed and start getting dressed again.

"where are you going?" Brooke asks, as she sits up in my bed.

"your place."

"you're going _all _the way back to my place?" she asks me in disbelief.

"yes. And you can come if you want, but I can't guarantee I will be wearing clothes the entire night" I say with a smirk. I see her stumble over her words, trying to think of something smart, but instead I just toss her clothes back at her and she starts getting dressed. Just to save time I exit the room, with Brooke still changing and knock on my brother's door.

"Danny" I whisper loudly.

"what?" he groans from under the blanket. He's really a big kid on the inside.

"I'm going to stay the night at Brooke's, I'll be back tomorrow morning. _Maybe late morning_" I say thinking of just what we might do together.

"gross" he moans.

"shut up. Tell Jacob, okay?"

"what ever" he's really incapable of having a conversation at night.

"bye" I whisper.

"bye!" he says angrily. Okay, wow. Maybe I should leave now.

As soon as I head out of his room I see Brooke waiting down the hall impatiently.

"come on now, I can't wait forever"

"aw, I know you can't, but you're going to have to wait until we get to your place" I say slyly. I lean in to give her a kiss, but instead, leave her hanging and grab my shoulder bag from behind her.

"that was mean" she says as I walk away, towards the door.

"well, maybe I'll _make up_ for it later"

"okay, let's go, before I rip your clothes off here" she says pushing me out the door.

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I have to say it was pretty damn hard to keep my hands off of Brooke in the cab, I mean she looked so hot, but we finally made it, and thank God for that. As soon as we got into her apartment I turn around to see Brooke, who immediately grabs me by the waist and pulls me closer for that perfect kiss. I start unbuttoning her blouse as she pushes me through the maze and towards the bedroom.

"you are so sexy" Brooke mutters against my lips as she pushes me into the bedroom. I don't even know how we got here.

"mm, you're not so bad yourself" I say as I shut the door behind us.

Tonight should be fun. Well actually, 'fun' wasn't the first word that came to mind, but I think you get the point.

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A few hours later, and yes I did say a _few hours_, we're lying in bed, still naked.

"I can't even sleep anymore" I say.

"I'm that good, huh?" she says jokingly. I push her lightly, and she just smiles back at me. "okay look, why don't we just talk until we fall asleep, okay?"

"okay" I say softly. "what do you want to talk about?"

"um, how about the fact that you have all of my B. Davis magazines stashed under your coffee table" she says teasingly and I push her again.

"shut up! Someone gave those to me" I lie.

"yeah, someone _gave_ them to you" she says sarcastically.

"be quiet! It's embarrassing enough!" I squeal out.

"okay, okay… well maybe I have something that will make you feel better" she says as she reaches over to her bedside table and opens up the drawer.

"that better not be something electronic" I threaten.

"ha ha" she deadpans. "no, it is not" she states as she closes the drawer and hands something to me. It's a stack of tickets. I look at the first one and I realize it's a ticket to my very first real concert that I head lined. I flip through the stack of them that are held together by a rubber band and their tickets to almost all of my concerts. All still with the ticket stubs on them.

"why didn't you come?" I ask softly, as I just can't take my eyes off of these things.

"I was scared" Brooke replies.

"you were scared… to see _me_?"

"I was scared to see the girl who broke my heart…" she whispers back.

"Brooke, I want you to know that for the last few years I never stopped missing you. And I have never been as happy as I am right now, and that's because of you"

"do you ever regret breaking up with me in high school?" she just had to ask that question, didn't she.

"… no" I shake my head and I know that's not the answer she wanted.

"well _I _do. Haley, don't you ever think how happy we would have been if we just stayed together"

"I think about that all the time" I really do. "but Brooke face it, our dreams wouldn't have come true"

"yes they would have!" Brooke shouts, I can tell she's getting angry now. Something tells me this isn't going to be a happy conversation.

"how do you know that? How do you know that you would own your own company, or that I would be a musician? How do you know that Brooke?!"

"because I would have made sure that our dreams came true. I would have done anything to help you become a musician, I would have done _anything_… but not being there for you wasn't one of them!"

"look can we just forget about it? It's over now"

"you don't get it, do you? I think about that day all the time, and I cry because I know I missed all that time with you. And if we had been together as long as Peyton and Lucas, maybe we would be the ones getting married, not them"

"is that what this is about? Getting married? Because Brooke, you and I both know we're going to get married"

"but we don't know that! What if something happens to you or to me tomorrow? What if we're just not there in the future? I think about how much time we wasted over the last 5 years and I just don't want to waste any more"

"is that what you think? That we're just wasting our time? Cause if you do, please tell me and I'll be happy to leave"

"Hales, I didn't mean it like that-"

"-really? Cause that's the way it came out!" I say. She doesn't say anything and neither do I. Instead we just sit here staring at each other waiting for something to happen. Should I say something? Or should I wait for her to say something?

"I hate when we fight" she says softly.

"I'm not too fond of it either"

"I'm sorry…"

"I don't want our relationship to be full of "I'm sorry's", I want it to be happy and exciting"

"well, me too" she says like it's obvious.

"then why can't we just have it?" I ask and she doesn't answer. Simply because she doesn't have an answer. Neither do I. "maybe we just rushed into this relationship too fast…" I say softly.

"…what are you saying?"

"I'm just saying maybe we weren't ready for something like this. I mean we just jump back together after 5 years apart? Who does that?"

"We do" she says, trying to fight for our relationship.

"and look where we are now, we're fighting!"

"everyone fights" she tries to ration.

"but we're not everyone…" I say back. "maybe this was a mistake" I finally say.

"don't say that" she says with tears threatening to fall. "because I don't think this was a mistake. I _know_ this wasn't a mistake, because in these last few weeks I have never been happier than I am with you. All the money and fashion, I'd give it up if I could be with you forever"

"but that's just it. I don't want you to have to give it up for me!"

"and that's exactly what you said 5 years ago!" she starts yelling now. "and for 5 years we were both miserable."

"… you know, at all of my concerts in the middle of the show I go out to the stands and choose one person to come up on stage…" I start babbling randomly.

"that's one lucky fan" Brooke says going along with it.

"yeah, but do you know why I do it, Brooke?"

She shakes her head and tries to hold back the tears. "why?" she whispers.

"because for a few minutes that fan, that one boy or girl, gets to feel like they're one in a million. Well, maybe not a million, but 10 000 or so. Of all of the people in that stadium, I choose them to come up on stage." I explain.

"that still doesn't explain-"

"-I know. That feeling that they get when they're on stage with me, is probably going to be one of the greatest moments of their life… that's how you made me feel when you told me you loved me. Every time you said it I would just get that feeling that I'm that _one_, that _one_ in a million. Because I know you could have anyone, but you chose _me_. Me of all people. Now I'm still not quite sure why because I know I have my faults, but you told me you loved me. And it was the greatest feeling in the world. That's why I bring one fan up from the stands for a few minutes. Just so I can give some other soul in this world the same feeling I get when I'm with you."

"so then what's the point of telling me this?"

"because after 5 years of not seeing you, and not kissing you and not being around you, I still get that feeling every time you tell me you love me. And it scares me so much knowing that you're the only person in the world who can do that to me. It's scary knowing I found my soul mate in some high school in the middle of nowhere. Of all of the places, I found you in Tree Hill. And it's just so random that it _must_ have been fate. But there are just so many things in the way right now that it's like everything's going against us… and I just don't know what to do."

"you want to know what you do? You _fight_. You fight for what you want because that's the only way you're ever going to get it. I learned that the hard way because I never fought nearly as hard as I should have for you. I should have tried to see you every day. I should have been there 5 years ago. I just didn't know it."

"but what if it's too late to fight? What if we're just so wrapped up in our lives we don't even know how to fight?"

"just please… try" she says gripping on to my hands for dear life.

"I don't know if I can. If this is what our relationship is like after a few weeks, imagine what it's going to be like if we get married.

"Haley, you have to stop thinking about what's going to happen in the future, and start thinking about what's happening now. We can get through this, I promise you. Just like how you promised me you wouldn't hurt me like before…"

"everyone makes promises they can't keep…"

"then, be different! Keep yours!"

"I can't. Not from where we're standing"

"please, tell me, where are we standing, because at this point I have no clue what you want anymore" she says angrily.

"what I want? I want to go back to high school and be those two girls who were so madly in love with each other that they couldn't spend more than a few hours without each other. I want to go back and be those girls who fought for each other's happiness. I want to go back before we even started thinking about college, or the rest of our lives. I just want to go back."

"well we _can't_" she states harshly. "we have to learn how to change and adapt, because that's just the way life is. That's the way love is."

**So how long has it been since I've updated? Yeah, def too long. So I hope you enjoyed it. I'm trying to finish off my SON story (answers to questions I don't have), yeah it's going, just going slowly. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**Okay guys, this is a SUPER long chapter. Over 4000 words. But it's also the last of the elites 2. Now before you get all angry, I want to let you know it leaves a lot of unanswered questions in the end… that's why I'm writing a third (and final) part to the story. More details at the end of the story. But for now, just read.**

They're all waiting out there. In the large conference room. About 40 reporters and their camera's and microphones, all just waiting to hear my big news.

"are you sure this is what you want?" Brooke asks me through the phone that I have glued to my ears. My other hand is shaking. It's weird, I don't think I've ever been this nervous about anything in my life.

"yeah, I'm sure. Peyton might not be too happy about it, but I'm sure"

"okay, well, come by the fashion show and we'll talk about everything okay?" Brooke asks.

"yeah, alright" I reply softly.

"Haley, don't worry, everything's going to be fine. We decided this together and I'll be there for you like I promised"

"I know." I say glancing up from my spot to see Peyton eyeing me subtly. "look, I've got to go, it's about to start."

"okay, bye Hales"

"bye" I reply softly and shut my phone. I guess I'm not really too happy about doing this, but it needs to be done.

"you okay, Hales?" Peyton asks. Should I fill her in on the plan? Nah.

"yeah" I say with a fake smile. And I think she knows it's fake too, just doesn't want to say anything.

"oh hey listen, before I forget, the whole People magazine and the sensational six thing has organized this event in Tree Hill tomorrow, it's kind of last minute, but they want it in for their next issue. So first thing tomorrow morning we're boarding a plane back home" Peyton informs me.

"are all 6 of us going?" I ask.

"that's kind of the plan. I mean, we're not really the sensational six if someone is missing, now are we?" she asks teasingly.

"no, I guess not…"

"alright, you ready to do this?"

"it's now or never" I reply as we both head out onto the platform in front of everyone. Okay so I know right now Peyton's going to be pissed, but whatever. I can't do this.

"thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming out tonight. I'd like to apologize to you personally, for tonight there will not be a press conference. Something came up and this meeting has been postponed indefinitely. Thank you" I say and walk back behind the curtain, just as planned.

Brooke and I realized yesterday we just weren't ready for this. After our fight, we both knew announcing our relationship in my press conference just seemed like bad timing. I mean, with the fashion show going on and the pressure between us, it was obvious it just wasn't a good time. The good news is Brooke and I are working out our problems, but that doesn't mean they're gone. Maybe by tonight we can fix them before we hop a flight back home tomorrow. Who knows maybe we could even patch things up at the fashion show. But then again, that would take a miracle. Literally, a miracle.

As soon as I step out from behind the curtain Peyton quickly follows.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" see, I knew she'd be pissed.

"nothing." I reply. And that's exactly what it was. Nothing. I pull my shoulder bag over my opposite shoulder and start heading for the back door.

"where are you going?" Peyton asks, still furious.

"where do you think?" I ask, pausing at the door to turn around. Like I'd miss another one of Brooke's fashion shows. "you're welcome to come" I say and I see her contemplate in her mind, and throw away her frustrations.

"fine, but you're still in serious trouble" she threatens and we both head outside.

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As soon as we get to the fashion show we see everyone is already inside so we hurry along. We tell our names to the guards outside of the inner doors and we quickly sneak in the back. The room is almost pitch black, the only thing lit up is the outline of the stage. We manage to find our seats, only stepping on a few feet, and finally settle down.

I guess Brooke managed to postpone the introduction for a few minutes. Or maybe she's just running late.

"so why'd you do it?" Peyton whispers to me. I turn to face her and in the dark I can see the slight reflection of light off of her eyes.

"I don't know. Partly because we weren't ready, partly because it was just bad timing. There's a lot of reasons, but the bottom line is we still have some things to sort out."

"so you two got in a fight?" she asks like she knows the true meaning behind all of my words… and I give a small nod, focusing my vision back towards the stage. "but you still come to the fashion show, why?"

"because I want things to work out between me and Brooke. That and I still love her"

"well, trust me, you're in for a surprise tonight"

"surprise?" I ask Peyton as I turn around to see a small smirk on her face.

"just wait and see" she says nodding towards the stage, and as I turn around I see the lights all flash on at once and a sexy figure emerge onto the runway. That's _my_ girl.

As she walks down the runway, light after light lights up beside her feet making her entrance that much more spectacular. She finally makes her way to the end of the stage and strikes a strong pose. Everyone around starts clapping so Peyton and I join in. She raises the microphone that's already in her hand to her face and waits until it goes silent.

"good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Clothes Over Bro's fashion show. I'm Brooke Davis in case you're wondering, and if you are one of those people wondering you probably don't belong here." She says making the crowd laugh a little. I see flash after flash from the cameras go off. "tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing my latest line, which was only newly inspired a few weeks ago. This season's fashion line really does mean a lot to me and I'm glad I have you all here to share it with. You'll notice as the night progresses that each outfit has just as much high style as the next, but with each and every single outfit brings some sort of unique items to the table. Something to bring it down from the high fashion and into the real world. This line means the world to me because it combines two very special ideas and throws them together in a way you've never seen before. This line demonstrates just how well two opposites can fit together. This line was also inspired by someone very close to me. So, without further ado, I introduce to you…_ The Tutor Girl line_." Brooke says with a smile as she descends down the stairs leaving the audience clapping and anticipating the hottest line out there.

"did she just say…?" I ask Peyton.

"yeah, she did." Peyton says with a smile. "The Tutor Girl line" she repeats. "…_surprise_"

"damn…" I breathe out as I watch outfit after outfit come out. And Brooke was right, each dress or outfit is high fashion, but each time there's something added to make it different. And it all looks so familiar. Each outfit I notice something. Something I've worn before. I see one outfit with the exact same scarf I wore the day I found out Brooke disowned her friends, to put it nicely. The next outfit I see has the three silver rings and matching necklaces, the same ones I wore on the day Brooke met my brother's and sisters. Another model comes down the cat walk even wearing a guitar strapped around her shoulders. Just like the first time I played her my song. Every outfit I see has some piece of me on it, and every outfit just looks amazing.

I guess that's why Brooke was always taking pictures of me.

Model after model walks out and with each new design the audience starts clapping louder and louder. But the entire time I can't help but think this line is all about me and Brooke. It's all about how it's a combination of me and her. And it works.

"I'll be back" I say to Peyton as I tear my eyes away from the show and get out of my seat.

"where are you going?" she asks.

"to make things right" I reply and walk up the stairs and towards the backrooms behind the curtains to the show. I'm stopped several times by guards, but I tell them my name and they all seem to let me by. Now I don't know if it's because I'm a musician or if it's because Brooke put my name on every list, but I don't really care.

I walk into the back behind the curtains to find a mess of half naked models running around everywhere with make up artists and hair stylists following them. Haha, I think I see Rachel naked. I weave through the size 2 ladies and make my way to the entrance onto the runway knowing that's where she's going to be. And from behind I see her standing there in her gown looking as gorgeous as ever. And that's just her back side.

"wait…" Brooke says to a model and fixes the lapels on her shirt. "okay, go." She commands. This is like her high point. Her fashion shows are just like my concerts. They're the best part of her dream. "no, what are you wearing? This is backwards!" she yells trying to fix a skirt one of the models is wearing, she sends her back, and instead sends the next model in her place.

"hey there" I say quietly as I step up beside her without her even noticing.

"Haley? What are you doing back here?" she asks as she adjusts another outfit and sends the model out.

"the tutor girl line?" I ask her with a raised eyebrow. She softly smiles at me and takes a step away from her work.

"I hope you're not mad, I mean it doesn't reveal anything because no one knows who tutor girl is to me."

"mad? You think I'd be mad? Brooke, this is probably one of the most amazing things ever. I mean you named your entire line after a nick name in high school! I'm not mad, I'm just…" what's the term I'm looking for? Oh yes. "… in love"

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After the show ended Brooke received an astounding applause of course, and the show was a huge success. Did you really have any doubts? After the show there was a small party held in the auditorium where the show took place. People who were helping, or people who were in the show, or people just interested in buying the line all stuck around for a little champagne. Including Peyton, Rachel and myself.

"so what did you think of the show?" Rachel asks me with a small nudge.

"I'm speechless, really" I reply as we all watch Brooke talk business with some potential customers. I see her glance back over at me and give me a small smile and I smile back. "I can't believe you guys were holding out on me"

"actually Rachel almost let it slip when she found out you weren't going to come tonight" Peyton says.

"by the way, what are you doing here? I thought you had a press conference" Rachel says.

"I did…" I start hesitantly.

"but then cancelled it after about, oh, 30 seconds or so" Peyton says angrily.

"why?" Rachel asks with a scoff.

"It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you tomorrow on the plane ride back home. Speaking of which, I'm getting tired, I think I'm going to head home."

"oh come on" Rachel says throwing an arm around my shoulders. "the night's still young, and so are we" she says raising her champagne glass.

"yeah, try saying that tomorrow morning when we're on an airplane and all you can think about is how you're too hung over to even think" I say making Peyton laugh.

"alright, well are you going to be okay to get home?" Peyton asks.

"yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just going to say goodbye to Brooke, then I'm off"

"okay. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 5:30am"

"alright" I agree and Peyton and I share a quick hug. I separate from the two girls and make my way over to Brooke. Just as the other customers are leaving I saunter over to my girlfriend.

"you were amazing tonight" I say to her as we both take a seat on the end of the runway.

"thank you. So how did our plan for the press conference go"

"it went fine, just as planned. I told them to go home, Peyton got angry, and we came over her right afterwards."

"You know, I'm pretty happy with the way everything turned out. I mean, if we hadn't planned to cancel the press conference you might not be here right now"

"and I wouldn't have been able to see you announce your tutor girl line" I say happily.

"I love you" Brooke whispers so that no one else can hear her, as she subtly touches her fingers with mine, which are sandwiched in between us.

"I love you too" I say looking into her eyes.

"see this is how I want it to be. Just me and you, happy."

"yeah, me too…"

"I don't think you get it Haley, this is what I want for you and me. I just finished one of my best fashion shows to date and I have you and its like I'm on top of the world and I have everything. This is possibly the happiest I've ever been. And I want you to know you're the reason for it all, you're what I think about in the morning and what I think about at night. You're what makes me happy. Not the fashion, not the glam, not late night parties, none of it. _You,_ Haley James are the reason I am happy"

"Brooke, stop" I say with a small laugh. "you're going to make me cry" I say trying to hold back the small tears of joy already forming in my eyes. She wipes a tear out of the corner of my eye and lets her hand rest there for a few seconds more.

"well, it's true" she whispers.

"I know. Why do you think I'm crying? Just to let you know Brooke, you're the only person who can do this to me. You're the only person who can make me cry even though I'm so in love, you're the only one who can make something out of nothing and make it amazing… and you're the only who can make me happy. I told you 5 years ago I would love you forever and I'm going to keep my promise, I can guarantee that."

………………………

A couple of days ago Brooke and I were fighting. Now I can barely remember what it was about. What I do remember is I doubted our relationship because we just jumped back into it. But as of yesterday and the fashion show, I can't help but think there's nothing that I want more than for this relationship to work. So I'm going to make sure of it. The five of us are all waiting in the airport, and we should be able to board our plan in about 20 minutes. Nathan is talking to a couple of fans while Rachel and Peyton are in the bathroom and Brooke and I are just walking around a little. Of course, Lucas is back in Tree Hill where he lives. But thankfully we're passed security and all our bags are checked so there's no paparazzi. As we're heading towards the benches I see some magazine racks containing the latest news.

"hey, I'm going to meet you at the seats, I just want to see something first" I say to Brooke.

"okay" she says happily as she walks over to a couple of open seats. I pick up the magazine which seems to have me on the cover more than once and I read the headlines. 'Which one is she with?' it asks. And on the cover of the latest tabloid is a picture of me with Rachel and her arm around me, the next is a picture of Peyton hugging me, and lastly is a picture of Brooke touching my cheek. Each picture taken at the fashion show after party could be easily taken the wrong way, and it obviously has. But it makes me think back to last night and how perfect it was… and it reminds me of how happy I am right now. I flip open a couple of pages to read the first few sentences of the article which says something along the lines of 'Haley James left her press conference last night just after it started only to be spotted flirting with 3 of Manhattan's hottest ladies'.

I put the magazine back, knowing it doesn't even bother me. Instead, something catches my eye in the store. I head over to the toy machines and I examine them carefully. I think this could be… just what we need. I crouch down in front of the little mechanical toy machine and put a quarter in. It's one of those machines where you put in your money, turn the knob and out pops a little toy or present. Usually this kind of thing is for kids, but when I see something I go for it.

I look at the small ball I got and see through the plastic to see I got just what I wanted. I don't know what urged me to do this, but it just feels right. I walk over to my girlfriend to see her just texting on her phone. She decided to give Millicent some time off, so she's got to do everything herself. But as soon as I sit down beside her she puts it away. That's one thing I love about Brooke, she always puts me before work.

"hey" I say.

"hey" she replies with a large yawn, I can tell she's trying her best to stay awake.

"tired?" I ask.

"yeah, I didn't go to sleep last night. There was a lot of work to do" she says with a smile. "so what'd you buy?" She asks curiously. I look around and the place is still pretty empty since it's such an early flight. I think some alone time is just what we need for this moment.

"I'll show you in a minute. But right now I just want to talk about something"

"okay" she says confusedly as she turns in her seat to face me better, and I do the same.

"so…" I start and I realize I don't know what to say.

"are you okay Hales?" she asks as she places a hand on my arm lightly. I take her hand off my arm and instead hold it in between my hands, with the toy resting in my pocket.

"I love you, you know that right?"

"sure." She replies.

"and you love me, right?"

"of course" she replies more sure of herself.

"okay, well just the other day we were fighting about something, but yesterday I realized that one little fight can't even come close to tearing us apart. When I met you all those years ago I fell in love and I fell hard, you have no idea. And with everything going on our relationship has been put on this huge strain which is just strangling us. So I just want it to stop"

"us?"

"no! no, no, no, I want the _strain_ to stop" I clarify. Wow, that was close. "I want to be able to be with you, no ifs, ands or buts. I want to be with you 100 percent, nothing holding us back. Because Brooke I told you I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and I plan to. You've met my family, you've proved to me you love me, and I want to let you know I love you too." I say and I reach into my pocket and pull out the plastic ball, containing the toy inside.

"I don't understand…" Brooke says, focusing on the object in my hands.

I pop off the lid placing it aside for the moment and taking the object out of the ball. I grab her hand and hold the object between my fingers. I show her the plastic ring I got from the toy machine and I make sure she understands what I'm going for.

"I want to have it all with you. I want the good night kisses, I want the blissful mornings, I want the hand holding in the park, I want everything. I want everything with you. But what I _don't want_ is to waste anymore time. I don't want to spend another minute away from you. I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either Hales. I don't want you to think you'll ever lose me again. And I certainly don't want you to think I could ever walk away from this."

"Good, so Brooke Penelope Davis now that we've both said what we _don't _want, maybe we can change some things around… will you marry me?" I ask and I think she's been expecting it for a couple of minutes now.

I open the plastic toy I purchased and show her the contents. Her eyes are focused on the plastic silver ring with the fake pink diamond in it, held in my hands. I look down as well and see my hand shaking with fear of rejection. I look back up at Brooke to see she's still speechless. I hear her kick back a sniffle and wipe the already falling tears from her face with her free hands. She tries to give me a verbal answer, but seems to have lost her voice.

Instead, she nods her head like a fool as if saying 'yes'.

"yes?" I ask. I just had to clarify.

"yes." She replies, not even caring about the tears. "yes, yes, yes, yes, _yes_" she repeats over and over again to make sure it gets through my head. I slip the cheap ring onto her ring finger and not a moment sooner she pulls me by the hands in for a kiss.

"wait…" she says softly, pulling back. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a velvet box. What the hell? She opens it up to show me a _real_ ring with a _really_ big diamond in it. "I think you're going to need a ring too…" she says taking it out of the box and placing it on my finger. And I guess now it's my turn to cry.

"great, now I look cheap with my plastic ring, in comparison to your expensive engagement ring" I tell her with laughter and tears.

"never" she whispers as she kisses me again.

"wait, how long have you had this ring?"

"2 years" she approximates.

"2 years?" meaning…

"that night I came to see you at the opening of Taylor's bar, I intended to do a whole lot more than just get back together with you" she says. She was really going to propose to me that night? Now I really am kicking myself for not showing up.

But that's enough of that. The past is the past, and right now I just want to live in the present, because in the present is where I have my music career, my best friends, and my girl.

"when we get to Tree Hill I want to make it official, I want everyone to know. No more obstacles"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Brooke says with a smile as she leans in to kiss me again, our tear stained faces touching once again.

"oh god, what are Peyton and Rachel going to say?" I ask with a small chuckle.

"hm, something along the lines of-"

"-OH MY GOD!" We hear a familiar voice say. We turn to the side to see Rachel and Peyton standing just a few feet away, eyes glued to our hands, where our newly placed rings stay.

"Nathan!" Rachel calls him over and he quickly walks over.

"yeah?" Nate asks. Peyton just points in our direction, more specifically to our hands linked together with our rings on them.

"are you…?" Nathan starts.

"yeah… we are" Brooke replies, not even letting go of my hand.

"congratulations!" all three of them say at the same time as they rush over to us to hug us and get a good look at my diamond engagement ring and her plastic 25 cent ring. Needless to say, jokes were abundant at the time. It's kind of weird though – the whole little spiel before I asked her those final 4 words. The whole 'I don't' part. I feel like it really meant something, you know?

…It's almost as if we had to say our 'I don'ts' before our 'I do's.'

THE END.

**I know it's weird ending the story like this. But the way I was going with this story was it was never going to end, and it would have gotten boring, so I had to stop it here. But you know how great things always come in threes… star wars, pirates of the Caribbean, threesomes… the list just goes on lol.**

**So the next story will probably kick off with the wedding and such, or maybe a retelling of the wedding, idk. And Victoria will probably make a come back of some sort. Also, I've been waiting forever to write a baley story with a child so I'm SO going to get into that shit. Lol. Stay tuned for the next story. Thanks ahead of time for reading.**

**-GraydonGirl.**


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